


Bittersweet and Strange

by funkyfaerie



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Beauty and the Beast Fusion, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Beauty and the Beast Elements, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-01
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2020-07-29 00:17:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 60,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20072998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/funkyfaerie/pseuds/funkyfaerie
Summary: Look, Taako didn't ask to get stuck in the Astral Plane with the Grim-fucking-Reaper and a cadre of weird castoffs from the Prime Material Plane, but he sure as shit wasn't letting Lup get stuck there either.A Beauty and the Beast AU with a suspicious lack of singing furniture, a whole lot of cheating Death (at cards), and even more lovesick idiots who find a home in the most unexpected of places.





	1. Lup, Lost

Lup was gone. Not missing, not lost. Gone. It was one thing for her to disappear for a couple of days at a time—the caravans were cramped and tiny and their current boss, Maarvey, was an entire bag of dicks—but not like this. This was different:

Taako couldn’t feel her anymore.

They’d always been connected, ever since they were little. Taako knew when Lup was hurting, Lup could always sense when his smart mouth had landed him in trouble. Evocation and transmutation, two halves of a whole. And now she was just _gone_ and the place behind his heart—the place where she should be, his second heartbeat—was empty.

“_Back soon,”_ her note had read, with a little doodle of a flame in the corner, and Taako believed her. Lup always came back.

The first two days he’d barely noticed her absence, too busy cooking for the caravan while she was gone. His only thought was that she owed him _huge_, and what a pain in the ass it was to cook for everyone without a second set of hands.

But she didn’t come back. Two days rolled into three, into four. Taako didn’t _do _worry but he couldn’t help the itch that crept under his skin when Lup failed to return. He’d resolved to give her one more day when suddenly she was just…gone, and Taako was left without half of himself. It was like he’d been stripped of one of his senses, the most important one, and he didn’t know how to navigate the world without it. Without Lup.

Locate Creature did fuck all, and Taako burned nearly all of his spell slots checking and rechecking, but she was nowhere. Vanished completely, as if she’d never existed.

The Ethereal Plane was a bust too but if she wasn’t in their world she had to be _somewhere_.

“Shit, Lulu, where are you?” Taako asked the empty air. The Hammerheads had left him behind a few days ago and Taako didn’t blame them; if it had been anyone else, he would’ve moved on as well. He gazed at the materials he’d laid out in front of him, every single one stolen from one rich prick or another. None of them were meant to be used like this—the diamond alone would buy their safety for years. Lup would be pissed at him for using their nest egg for a spell he didn’t even know he could cast, but it had been a week and Taako was starting to get desperate.

“This is going to _suck_,” he muttered to himself. Magic gathered in his palms, sparking on his fingertips as he took a deep breath and cast Gate. “Lup,” he ordered, targeting the spell.

Nothing. For a minute, Taako was sure that the spell had flopped, that it was beyond his capabilities, and then something blew him backwards like a bomb had gone off. His breath vacated his lungs in a rush as the spell lifted him off of the ground and threw him against the wall of the flophouse where he’d been squatting.

“Shit on a _stick_,” Taako swore when his vision finally cleared. The gateway looked like it opened to nothing and even from across the room he could feel the pull as it sucked at his clothes like a miniature black hole. His hand flew to his head to keep his hat from flying into the portal without him.

Taako didn’t stop to think that the gate could literally spit him out anywhere. He didn’t think that he could end up at the bottom of the ocean, for all he knew, or in space where the oxygen would rip out of his blood before he could so much as cast a spell to save himself. He especially didn’t think that he wasn’t even sure if Lulu was alive and if she was dead than the gate would take him to be _body _and—

He wasn’t thinking about any of that. Why bother? Lup was fine, she’d just lost track of time somewhere and when he found he she’d yell at him for wasting their diamond on a lark.

Securing his knapsack over his shoulder and pressing his hat even more firmly against his hair, Taako took a single, steadying breath and stepped through the gate.

It was like being ripped apart, atom by atom, and then being forced back together again with way too much force than was necessary. Taako’s stomach heaved and his knees gave out the second his feet hit solid ground again, suddenly unable to hold his weight. He retched, spitting bile, but there was nothing in his stomach to throw up.

Taako swiped at his mouth and after catching his breath, forced himself back to his feet. He was still wobbly but his legs held this time.

The gate was gone by the time he managed to look around and wherever she was, Taako hoped Lup had saved spell slots because there was no way he was going to pull that kind of power out of his ass a second time. It didn’t matter, though, because all at once, he was whole again. Lup was back where she should be, the sense of her slotting into the empty place in his chest as though she’d never been gone. Lup was _here_. She was alive and she was close.

Taako inhaled deeply through his nose, feeling like he could breathe for the first time since Lup had disappeared. He’d barely registered his surroundings—a whole lot of fucking nothing—when voices sounded off behind him.

“Alive,” hissed someone—_something_—he couldn’t see. Taako’s ears twitched and they would’ve gone completely flat if he hadn’t had years of practice keeping them still. “Alive, he’s alive.” Taako couldn’t see where the voices were coming from, but the words were said in unison, as if by some creepy invisible chorus.

“Back the fuck off,” Taako warned, holding his wand ready as he spun in a tight circle, squinting into the dark. He didn’t know what type of spooky-ass advanced darkness bullshit was going on here, but his darkvision was doing exactly fuck all.

“Alive,” the voices chanted. “He’s alive, he’s alive, alive, _alive_.”

He still couldn’t see anything, but the voices grew louder, closer, and Taako could sense something approaching, a massive, lumbering presence that made his hair stand on end.

“Nope,” Taako muttered, turning on his heel and taking off into the inky blackness. He lit the tip of his wand and he still couldn’t see shit, but whatever was in here with him, he wasn’t going to stick around long enough to see if it looked as malevolent as it sounded. He had no idea where he was going, guided only by the internal compass inside him that guided him closer to his sister.

The fortress appeared out of nowhere, so suddenly that Taako nearly ran into it headlong. A massive door loomed over him a hundred feet high, looking like it had been hewn out of an enormous slab of obsidian.

“Open sesame!” Taako shouted, pounding his fists against the door. Behind him, the whispering voices grew louder and louder, until they were snarling about his liveliness and vitality so intensely that Taako wanted to tell them to buy him dinner first. “A little help here!” He banged even harder against the black stone door, but it didn’t budge.

“Oh, fuck it.” Taako pointed his wand at the door and casting Knock. He didn’t know what was keeping the door closed, whether it was mundane or arcane, but the spell was fueled by desperation, and his magic, as drained as it was, responded. This time when he shoved the door, it pushed open just enough for him to squeeze through.

Taako pushed his back against the door, shoving it closed and praying that it was strong enough to keep out whatever was chasing him. The voices roared in unison, slamming against the door so hard that the force sent him skittering away, crouching on the balls of his feet like a startled cat.

“Come back!” the voices wailed, throwing themselves against the door again and again. “Come _back_!”

“I think the fuck _not_.” Taako stood back up slowly, halfway expecting the door to give way but somehow it held. Instinct told him not to turn his back to whatever was pursuing him so intently, but he didn’t have much of a choice now that he’d locked himself in…here.

Wherever here was.

Inside the fortress, the darkness lessened enough for his darkvision to start filling in the outlines of the structures around him. He was in a courtyard of some kind, with massive topiaries and hedges grown out of some kind of black plant that Taako had never seen before. The gardens stretched well beyond his sight and he didn’t know how long he’d been wandering through them before he came upon a structure so huge that it could house giants with room to spare.

"Sweet Istus,” Taako mumbled. He tipped his head all the way up and squinted but he still couldn’t see the top of the building through the gloom.

Lup was in there. That much he knew for certain. It looked like the set of one of those bad movies they used to watch on fantasy pay-per-view when they were little and snuck into inns along the road just for a safe place to stay the night, the ones that Lup loved and always gave him nightmares. Taako knew that she was in there. He knew it like he knew how to cast Prestidigitation, or that he was the prettiest bitch for miles, maybe even more considering the dreariness of his current surroundings and the fact that the last time he’d seen Lup she’d been wearing jorts and was goddamn disqualified from any beauty contests until she learned how to dress herself.

Taako took another steadying breath and marched up the black steps, praying that the door at the top wasn’t locked. He didn’t think he had another Knock in him.

“Hello?” he called as the door swung open before he’d even touched it. The doors in this place really needed to make up their minds. “_Hello_?” His words were swallowed up by the dark, swallowed whole, without so much of an echo.

He didn’t want to go inside. There was quite literally nothing he wanted to do less than go poking around the haunted house from hell, but he wasn’t leaving without Lup. He wasn’t leaving here without his sister.

“If there’s any spooky shit about to pop out at me, I’d rather you just get it over with because after the freakshow outside I’m pretty much over this whole ish.”

No one answered and Taako was almost disappointed. Normally he had Lup to talk to but the silence made him even twitchier than usual, so he just kept up a steady stream of chatter as he picked his way through the enormous building. It seemed to stretch on forever, room after enormous empty room, and Taako still couldn’t tell if it was a castle or a prison or something in between.

“I’ve gotta say, the dedication to an aesthetic is admirable. Most people’s Goth phase is just a whole lotta black, maybe some leather, a questionable haircut, but not you guys. It’s a bold direction but you really went for it.”

He could’ve been walking for minutes or hours when suddenly, Taako wasn’t alone anymore. Something rounded the corner, lamp in hand, and Taako had to squint against the blaze of light.

“Pan’s horns!” a rough voice exclaimed and Taako blinked, his eyes adjusting to see a dwarf staring at him, his eyes comically wide. Well. Eye. He only had one. The other was obscured by an eyepatch with some kind of design painted on it. The dwarf looked as surprised as Taako to see another person wandering around.

“Who are you?” Taako asked. Of all the creatures he expected to be haunting this place, a dwarf would’ve been his last guess.

“You’re _alive_,” the dwarf said.

Taako frowned. “Yeah, that seems to be the general consensus around here. Quick question, kemosabe: what the fuck is this place?”

“You shouldn’t be here,” the dwarf said. His eye flicked back and forth, as if expecting something to appear out of the shadows. “You need to go, right now.”

“Fuck that, I’m not going anywhere,” Taako snapped. “My sister’s in here and—”

“Your _sister_?”

“Is there an echo?” Taako planted his hands on his hips. “My sister, short stack. Blonde elf, likes to play with fire, has the same fucking face as me.” He bent down so that his features were illuminated in the lamplight. “I know she’s here and I’m not leaving without her.”

“You need to go,” the dwarf said again, shaking his head. “She’s stuck, but you still have a chance. You have to get out of here. Right now.”

Taako blew out his cheeks with frustration. “Okay, good talk.” He relit the tip of his wand and turned on his heel. Clearly being stuck in the dark for so long had addled the old man’s brains and Taako had wasted enough time in this creepy place already. Time to find Lup and split.

“Wait, where are you—” The dwarf hf to jog to keep up with Taako’s long strides. “You can’t just go wandering around in here, he’ll see you!”

Taako’s ears pricked and he whirled on the dwarf so quickly that they nearly collided.

“_Who_?”

“What?” The dwarf realized too late what he’d revealed and tried to backpedal, hedging obviously. He was a shit liar, truly one of the worst Taako had ever seen.

“Who else is in here with us?”

“No…no-one!” the dwarf insisted.

Taako cupped his hands around his mouth. “Hey!” he shouted at the top of his voice. “Who’s out there? Give me back my sister or I’m going to shove my foot so far up your—”

“Shhh!” the dwarf hissed. Underneath his beard, he’d gone white as a sheet. “Are you fucking nuts? If he hears you—”

“Take me to my sister or I keep shouting. Maybe whoever you’re so scared of will help me find her.”

“Fine, _fine_,” the dwarf said finally. “Just stay quiet, will you?”

Taako shot him a brittle smile and gestured with his wand. “Lead on, my man.”

The dwarf glowered but nodded, walking confidently through the dark. It wasn’t long before they reached a set of stairs and then it was just up and up and up until Taako was starting to think that they’d never reach the top.

“I go no further,” the dwarf said when they _finally_ reached the landing. He was huffing and puffing and even with his elven stamina Taako felt a little bit out of breath. “You wanna piss off the boss, fine, but neither you nor your sister is ever getting out of here.” He sighed, looking almost sorry. “You should’ve left when you had a chance.”

“You’re a real bundle of laughs, you know that?” Taako sniped.

The old dwarf almost laughed. “Good luck.”

Taako didn’t need luck. He was a fucking wizard. A wizard who was nearly out of spell slots, so it was a really good thing the door was unlocked.

The room inside was so bright that Taako had to shield his eyes for a few seconds until they adjusted. It was cramped but tall, with a high sloped roof like they were at the top of some tower. The only thing inside was a cage made out of thick black bars and even without casting Detect Magic, Taako could feel the arcane energy coming off of it.

Inside the cage was Lup. Lup, who was on fire. Flames gathered in her palms and she screamed her frustration, blasting the cage again and again, but the black bars just absorbed the flames without leaving so much as a scorch mark.

“Y’know, Lulu,” Taako said, positioning himself against the doorframe. He lifted a hand, carefully inspecting his fingernails. “You always say I’m the attention-seeking twin, but I’m not the one who fucked off to the Black Lagoon, now am I?”

“Taako,” Lup breathed. The fire in her hands flickered but remained lit. She didn’t look happy to see him. In fact, she looked horrified. “Shit, Taako, you’ve got to get out of here.” She grabbed the bars, the flames from her fingertips licking ineffectually against the magicked stone.

“’Hi, Taako,’” Taako sang in a singsong lilt. “’So good to see you, Taako.’ ‘Thanks for taking the time out of your very busy schedule to come rescue my sorry ass, Taako.’” He looked at her expectantly, planting his hands on his hips.

Lup didn’t so much as crack a smile, and that’s how Taako knew that they were well and truly fucked. “You need to go while you still can. He’s already got me but you still have a chance.”

“I’m going to get you out of there and then we’ll go together. You get me, Lulu?” Taako inspected the lock that kept the cage door shut. It was magical as shit, that much was certain, and Taako only had one, maybe two spells left in him. “Who’s this guy you’re all so scared of, anyway?” he asked, because the alternative was silence and Taako didn’t do silence.

“That would be me.”

“Taako!” Lup cried.

Taako spun so fast that his vision blurred—though that may have also been from all the magic he’d burned without resting and now that he thought about it, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d eaten either. Not great.

“Stay the fuck away from him!” Lup shouted, the flames in her hands burning even brighter, for all the good it did inside the cage.

The newcomer’s face was hidden under a heavy black robe and the darkness seemed to pull in tight around him, obscuring him even further from sight. He didn’t move towards them, just stood in the doorway, effectively blocking the only exit.

“Taako, run!” Lup ordered. Her voice was even but Taako knew her well enough to know that she was scared shitless. “Just go.”

“Not without you, babe,” Taako said, never taking his eyes off of the cloaked stranger. He didn’t know what it was about this cat that had Lup so spooked, but he was radiating enough arcane energy to power all of New Elfington. All in all, Taako didn’t love their odds, but he’d bluffed his way out of tough spots before.

“So what’s your deal?” Taako asked. The hooded figure cocked his head, as if sizing Taako up. “The whole creepy house behind a creepy wall, the aggressive darkness, those fucking voices outside, it’s all very convincing but I’m still wondering _why_.” The figure still didn’t answer but Taako could sense him gathering power. Well, two could play at that game. “What’s it all for, my dude? Why bother with any of this?” Still nothing. “You don’t want to talk, fine. Just answer me this one question: What’s your name, thug, because I’m about tentacle your dick.”

The figure gave a start and barely managed a “_What_?” before Taako raised his wand and cast Evard’s Black Tentacles. Inky black tentacles erupted from Taako’s wand, launching into the darkness that kept the hooded figure from sight. He couldn’t see them land but he could feel the resistance as they latched onto something and squeezed.

“Take that, you creepy fuck!” Taako shouted. For a single, victorious second he thought that maybe this gamble might work—that he’d take out shadow dude, get Lup out, and they would both go home—but then the figure pulled something out of the air and the spell rebounded.

Taako staggered backwards, the spell severed too fast for him to recover his balance. His shoulders hit the bars of the cage and the air burst out of his chest in a huff. He didn’t have a time to suck in another breath before the figure was on him.

“That was stupid.” Taako still couldn’t see his face, but he could feel the cold air of the stranger’s breath on his face. He had an accent. Stupid thing to notice at a time like this, but whoever this dude was, they had a fantasy Cockney accent that sounded just this side of strangled. Weird.

“That ain’t nothing.” Taako swallowed hard. “Just give me time, homie.”

“Why are you here?” the figure demanded, still way too close. Personal space must be a foreign concept. “How did you even _get_ here?”

“Well, you know, some asshole stole my sister so I thought I’d come get her.”

“To the Astral Plane?”

Was that where he was? Hachi machi, he was not in Faerun anymore. “It’s a twin thing.”

“Taako, go,” Lup hissed. Her hands, no longer on fire, reached through the bars to grab his.

“I think it’s rather late for that,” the figure said. He didn’t sound threatening or malicious, but like he was just reciting a fact. Like he was resigned to this. Like he was _bored_.

Yeah, fuck that. “Let her go.”

“She trespassed,” the figure said. “The rules of this world are clear. She stays. You…” He paused, considering. “I have no issue with you. You can go. Now, before I change my mind.”

“_Go_,” Lup insisted, squeezing his hand so tight that one of Taako’s knuckles popped. Her voice was thick but it didn’t falter. “I’ll be fine, I promise.”

“I know you will, Lulu.” He took a deep breath, squeezing her hand back. “But I won’t.”

Taako was not brave, as a rule. As an aspect of his general character, actually. Bravery was a luxury he couldn’t afford, something that would’ve gotten him and Lup a thousand times over during their childhood. When they were little, staying alive meant seeing danger and waving at it as he grabbed Lup’s hand and pulled her in the opposite direction. Lup was the brave one, not him. She was the good twin, always had been. She didn’t belong here in the dark.

“What are you—” Lup started to ask.

“Tradesies, my dude,” Taako cut her off, looking into where the figure’s face should be beneath the swirling dark.

“What?” he asked as Lup slammed her fist against the bars and screamed, “_No_!”

“I’m pulling a fantasy Uno reverse card,” Taako explained, quickly, because along with _not brave,_ _selfish_ was right there at the top of the list of his defining traits. He really, really didn’t want to be here. “Lup goes. I stay.”

“Why would you do that?” the figure asked.

Because it was _Lup_. “The fuck do you care? You want one of us to stay, fine. I volunteer and you get the prettier twin in the process. Win-win.”

“_No_,” Lup said again. Taako could see the light as she started blasting the cage but the heat was absorbed before it could scorch him.

“It’s forever,” the figure said, challenging, like he wanted Taako to falter. Like he _expected_ him to leave his sister behind. “Forever in the dark, with only the dead for company.”

“After spending time with the Hammerheads, I’m starting to think I’d prefer the dead. They’re probably not such raging assholes.” He was Taako, he was glib and smiling to the last, but he was also fucking terrified.

The figure got even closer, like he could hear the way Taako’s heart hammered against his ribs like a goddamn drum. He probably could. Who knew what kind of powers this guy had under his—physical, metaphorical—hood? “Elf lives are long,” he warned. “But not even your kind can fathom eternity.”

“You’re starting to hurt my feelings here, dude.”

The figure tapped something on the ground and some of the darkness under the hood drained away, revealing a grinning skull beneath. Red eyes winked at Taako from deep within the eye sockets.

Taako’s rabbiting heart dropped into his extremely stylish boots at the sight of the skull. It was like ice water had been injected into his veins. Instinct screamed for him to look away, to run, but he physically could not force his body to move. Fear he knew—he knew it better than he would ever admit—but this went beyond that. This was terror, pure and simple.

This was a bad plan. Oh sweet mother of shit, Taako had made some bad plans in his life but this may have just taken the cake. Stuck forever in the dark with fucking Skeletor. Fantastic. Should be a gas.

“You need to moisturize,” Taako said at last. He swallowed hard, his mouth completely dry. “I mean, you’re a little late to the game but better late than never, and I’ll be able to give you some pointers considering that we’re going to be roomies for, er…always.”

If a skull could look confused, this one did. But he recovered quickly and the darkness returned, obscuring his face again. “Fine.” He waved a hand that was not holding his weapon—a scythe, Taako noticed too late—as if it didn’t matter to him one way or another. “She goes, you stay.”

He gestured with the scythe and the cage door swung open. Before Taako could so much as turn to Lup, the figure reached inside and dragged his sister out.

“Lup!” Taako said, suddenly panicked. This was too _fast_, too sudden. He’d just gotten her back—_he’d just gotten her back_! Taako lunged, reaching for Lup’s hand, and made it all of three steps before whatever combination of desperation and adrenaline that had kept him running this far just straight dipped.

Oh shit. The world swirled and Taako went to his knees, _hard_.

_Huh_, he thought, detached from his useless, powerless body. _So that’s what happens when you burn all your spell slots. _

“Taako!” Lup called and through his wonky vision, Taako saw his sister rip away from the skeleton and drop to her knees beside him. “Why did you do that?” she demanded.

“I’m Taako, baby,” he said, somewhat nonsensically. Before she could answer, the skele-dude grabbed her upper arm and dragged her upright. Lup kicked and screamed, shooting sparks, but the skeleton was too strong. He slashed at the air with the scythe in his free hand and the world split open with a loud ripping sound.

“Taako I’m coming back!” Lup promised, still struggling. “I’m not leaving you here, I’m not!”

“That would be unwise,” the skeleton said.

Taako couldn’t do anything but watch as the skeleton pushed his sister through the portal and it started to seal up behind her.

“Taako!” Lup’s hand was the last thing he saw of her, and Taako had just enough presence of mind to catch what she hurled back through the gate before it could hit him in the head.

Taako caught Lup’s umbrastaff a split-second before the portal closed and then the loss of her hit him even harder than before.

She was gone and his chest was empty. Again. Lup was gone and Taako was stuck here, in the dark. Forever.

Well, _fuck_.


	2. Beginnings

The hooded figure lanced at Taako before turning away. “Come with me,” he said brusquely.

Taako didn’t know how, but he managed to get to his feet, leaning heavily on the umbrastaff to do so. The world still swam and the emptiness in his chest made him feel hollowed-out and incomplete but it helped, having a piece of Lup with him.

Pretty stupid of her, really, to give it to him, but Taako was grateful to have it nonetheless. The umbrastaff was Lup’s own invention. It had just been an old purple umbrella before Lup had gotten her hands on it. She was good with stuff like that, turning the mundane magical. It had taken some trial and error—including one memorable occasion where an explosion had singed off half of Taako’s hair and he’d rocked the hell out of an undercut for a few months—but eventually it was as good a magical conduit as any wand. Maybe better, because Lup had made it and Lup was fucking amazing.

“Where are we going?” Taako asked, following the hooded figure back into the twisting stairwell that went on forever.

Skeletor didn’t answer, just kept moving. The stairs were making him dizzy and Taako thought he might be sick, but there was nothing in his stomach but acid.

Where were they _going_? Taako had figured that he’d take Lup’s place in the cage and slowly go batshit crazy in the dark.

Oh, this was _so_ not a good plan.

“What happened to Lup?” Taako asked, trying a different tack. “Why did you take her?”

“It’s safe within the walls,” the figure said as they reached the bottom. The darkness was still oppressive but Taako thought he might be getting used to it. That or he was experiencing the world’s slowest blackout. “Leaving that safety is inadvisable.”

“Yeah, what the _fuck _was up with that?” Taako asked, too eager but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He had just lost his sister again and he was going to be starring in his own personal production of _Dawn of the Living Dead _for the rest of forever. He was a little fragile, so sue him. “The whole ‘disembodies voices’ thing was—”

The figure rounded on him so fast that Taako crashed into him headfirst and had a single impression of significantly more mass than he’d expected, given the whole robed-skeleton-schtick and also, _ohfuckcold_ before the figure jerked away. Which, okay, rude, but whatever. “Don’t speak of Legion,” he hissed.

“Cool cool cool.” Taako took a step back with his hands held up. “Not talking about Legion, got it.”

The figure nodded stiffly and kept walking, even faster than before. Was he even walking? Taako couldn’t really tell with all the swirly darkness and whatnot. The guy could be gliding for all he knew, or on magic skates or something.

“So,” Taako started again, still imagined that his new best friend was floating a few inches above the ground, which cheered him immensely, “you didn’t answer my question.”

No response but Taako could feel the room get several degrees colder. Literal cold shoulder, nice.

“What do I call you? You’ve got to have a name, homie.”

The silence stretched between them for so long that Taako resigned himself to not getting when the figure said, “None that the world remembers.

Taako blinked. What kind of pseudo non-answer bullshit was that? “What, did you eat a bowl of fortune cookies for breakfast? Fuck, my dude.”

It was a long time before the figure spoke again, stopping suddenly at the mouth of a long hallway. Taako didn’t run into him this time, at least. “Here,” he said, gesturing down the hall. It was so long that Taako couldn’t see where it ended. “Pick one.”

“What?”

He wasn’t sure how, but Taako could _feel_ red eyes rolling at him beneath the hood. “Pick a room. Any room, I don’t care which. Go wherever you want within the walls—except the West Wing.”

“What’s in the—”

Taako sucked in a sharp breath as Skeletor pushed right back up in his grill again. They would’ve been nose to nose if he had one. “You do not go in there. Tell me you understand.”

“No talking about Legion and no West Wing, got it,” Taako repeated dutifully. “Um, how will I know which is the West Wing? Dunno if you noticed but it’s dark as shit in here, fella.”

“You’ll know.”

The figure didn’t give Taako the chance to ask any more clarifying questions before vanishing into the dark.

“Nice guy,” Taako said to himself. “Pick a room, he says, like I give a single solitary shit where he keeps me.”

Taako picked a room at random, turning right to open the first door he saw. The inside was just as dark as everything else in this stupid place, no surprises there.

He should cast Light. It was just a cantrip, the easiest spell in the world, but it might as well have been ripping another hole in the planes. Besides, Taako genuinely didn’t think he had the magic left in him. He felt drained, wrung out in a way he’d never felt before. His _blood_ felt…dry. Ashy.

Instead, Taako just felt around until he found a large enough space on the ground for him to lay down. It wasn’t bad, not really. He’d slept in much more uncomfortable places over the years. And he was so tired. Fuck, he couldn’t remember ever being this tired.

Laying down, stretching out like this on the floor, Taako almost didn’t mind the dark. It was sort of nice, especially when he was so exhausted. Taako was halfway asleep when he realized that somewhere during his trek through the dark, he’d lost his hat.

* * *

“Holy shit, I think he’s dead.”

“I already told you, he’s not dead.”

“Well it’s been almost four days, Merle, and he hasn’t moved a fuckin’ muscle, so—”

“I’m sorry, who’s the cleric here? I think I know a little bit more about dead and not-dead than you.”

“Y’know, you go on and on about being a cleric but I haven’t seen you do any actual healing, old man.”

Taako’s ears twitched as the heated conversation permeated his state of unconsciousness. Technically, elves didn’t need to sleep but obviously he’d needed the rest.

“Sirs?” A much quieter, higher voice than the other two. “Sirs, I think he’s waking up!”

“Don’t even _think_ about trying to take credit for that,” said one of the two adult voices, the one Taako didn’t recognize.

He blinked awake, his eyesight taking a moment to adjust. Fantasy Jesus, he felt like he’d been hit by a battlewagon and then gone back for seconds. Note to self: no more running out of spell slots.

“Sir?”

There was a very fancy boy looking at him. A _very_ fancy boy, complete with a little cap and a cravat. What the hell was a very small fancy boy doing in a place like this?

“Sir? Are you alright, sir?”

Taako sat up too fast, sending the boy skittering away from him. “Hey, uh, thugs? Anyone want to explain what the fuck is going on here?”

“Hey!” objected a large human man, who clapped his massive hands over the boy’s ears and glared. “Ix-nay on the salty language in front of the kid.”

“Oh, it’s okay,” the boy said brightly, shrugging the man off. “I’ve heard swearing before. Merle swears in front of me all the time!”

The dwarf threw up his hands. “Way to rat me out, kid.”

The boy didn’t look phased. “I’m Angus MacDonald,” he said, sticking out a tiny brown hand for Taako to shake. Taako ignored it and after a few awkward seconds the hand dropped back to Angus’s side. “Um…this is Magnus,” he said, pointing at the massive human. Magnus waved. “And you know Merle.” The dwarf who’d led Taako through the castle—it was a castle, Taako had decided—peered down at him with his one eye.

“You’re a real dumbass, you know that?” he said gruffly. 

Taako frowned. “So I’ve been told.” He rubbed his head, startling a little when he realized that his hat wasn’t in its usual place. Not important, he told himself. Of the entire ocean of shit he was swimming in, a lost hat wasn’t exactly a priority.

It still bothered him though. 

“So what’s all this about thinking I was dead?” Taako asked, forcing himself to stop thinking about it.

“Well, erm, you’ve been asleep for quite a long time, sir,” Angus said, wringing his little hands. “And you were asleep on the floor…” He gestured to the bed in the corner that Taako hadn’t been able to see when he fell asleep. Which reminded him that he _could _see now, to a degree. Everything was grayscale, with only the most subtle shades of color—he could see the dull auburn color of Magnus’s hair and Angus’s dark skin—but everything else looked washed out. Fantastic. Welcome to the Astral Plane, where we have two speeds: pitch black and colorblind. Awesome. 

“Not dead, little dude,” Taako said, shaking himself off. His clothes felt crunchy and appropriately slept-in but he would bet he still looked better than the scruffy assortment in front of him. “Wait, are you guys dead?”

_With only the dead for company_, that’s what skele-dude had said. The humans and dwarf didn’t _look_ dead, but Taako didn’t exactly have experience in this arena. He preferred living, thanks.

Magnus frowned and Merle looked away, like it was a sore subject, which Taako thought was a bit stupid. They were in the Astral Plane. It was a fair question.

“We’re not dead, either,” Angus said when the other two didn’t answer, but some of the brightness in his voice had faded. “We’re alive, like you.”

“Cool cool,” Taako nodded. “Follow up questions: who the _fuck_ is our hooded pal and where’s the nearest exit?”

“Three days,” Merle said out of nowhere, his eye narrowed at Taako. “I give you three days before you get yourself killed for real this time.”

“I’ll be out of here by then,” Taako replied, glaring down his nose at the dwarf. “Dunno about you cats, but this place is really cramping my style.”

“You don’t know what you’re dealing with,” Merle insisted heatedly. “If you piss him off, he’ll kill you and then you’re going to get thrown into the Eternal Stockade.”

Taako made a note not to find out what the Eternal Stockade was. 

“There’s no way out of here,” Magnus said, gentle but resigned. He signed, his thumb traveling to a scar across his eye that Taako hadn’t noticed before. “Believe me, whatever you’re going to try, we’re already tried it.”

“What about the scythe?” Taako mused out loud. That’s how the figure had pushed Lulu back into their world. “Seems like a pretty efficient way of making an exit.”

Even in grayscale, he could see his companions’ faces blanch dangerously. Angus actually made a tiny squeak of fear and Magnus threw his arm around the boy’s shoulders, hugging him close.

“Okay, what is _up_ with this guy?” Taako demanded. He was just a person. Sure, Taako hadn’t been able to outmaneuver him during their last encounter but he also hadn’t exactly been at his best. If the ashy taste in his mouth was any indication, he’d been half-dead, which was uncomfortably appropriate considering his current location.

“That _guy_,” Merle said acidly, “is the Grim fucking Reaper.”

Taako’s ears twitched and went flat as his heart stuttered in his chest. “_What_?”

“Yeah, smart guy. You just sold your soul to Death himself.”

* * *

Back on the Prime Material Plane, Lup had covered half the continent of Faerun, looking for someone, _anyone_, who could help her. Inside the Astral Plane, time slowed until it dripped like molasses, but four days for Taako was months for his sister.

Whatever spell Taako had cast to poke a hole through the planes—Lup would bet on Gate because that was the kind of harebrained, batshit crazy thing that Taako would try—she hadn’t been able to recreate it, no matter how hard she pushed herself. She wasn’t strong enough and she was an evocation specialist. Blowing things up? Sure, let’s do it. Creating portals to the land of the dead? Not really her strong suit.

The Institute was just the latest in a series of half-assed leads that had gone nowhere. No one was willing to listen to a half-crazed elf girl with a tendency to light shit on fire when they told her than they couldn’t help her—especially when her goal was to bust a hole in the world and go spelunking into the Astral Plane. 

“It’s impossible,” they said. 

"You’ll get yourself killed.”

“It goes against every law of nature we know.”

Psh. As if Lup cared about the laws of nature when Taako was out there somewhere, with that _thing_, and if she knew her brother—and she did, better than she knew herself—he was going to get himself into even more trouble. Gods, he could already be dead in that place and she wouldn’t even know about it.

Taako’s physical absence wasn’t the worst part of all of this. They’d been separated a lot as kids. Elf twins were exceedingly rare, and their so-called family wanted to see what would happen if they were raised separately. They were a clever experiment, a way to see how two powerful magic-users might evolve in isolation. 

_Fuck_ isolation. Even when he wasn’t really there, Lup had always been able to feel her way back to her brother and it took them a couple decades to decide, _Nah. This ain’t it_. They grabbed everything they could, took each other’s hands, and ran. Never looked back, not once. They didn’t need anyone but each other but now Taako was just…gone.

Once, in a rare moment of sentimental honesty, Taako had once told Lup that his sense of her lived in his chest. A second heartbeat, he called it. Well, Taako wasn’t her second anything. He _was _her heart, and now she was just…hollow. Her first few days in the Prime Material Plane had been spent in the first abandoned house she could break into, half-conscious and aching as she struggling to breathe without her brother. Taako was her anchor and she was his compass and without him, Lup thought she might just dry up like a husk.

But she didn’t. She kept on living, forced to go on without him. It made her desperate. It made her dangerous.

“Can I help you?” asked a well-dressed woman as Lup threw open the doors of the Institute of Interplanar Research and Exploration. Long name, but it was the “interplanar” but that made the journey all the way to Neverwinter worth it. Maybe someone here could help her. 

Maybe it was another dead end and she would have to start all over again. 

Lup ignored the smiling secretary behind the desk, jumping over the turnstiles and trudging inside.

“Miss?” the secretary called behind her. “Miss, you can’t just—Miss!”

Lup continued to ignore her, striding through a massive circular chamber with a domed roof that let in the bright sun overhead. Everything was shiny and new and expensive looking in a way that made Lup’s teeth hurt to look at it. She knew that she was dusty and careworn by comparison. Taako would’ve been horrified—Taako, who always transmuted his clothes so that he never looked anything but perfect. But Taako wasn’t here. Taako was trapped and Lup couldn’t give a single solitary goddamn about how she looked at the moment. 

Taako would also be casing the place as he strode by her side, eying everything and anything that could be swiped and slipped into a pocket to be pawned off later. That instinct they shared, and Lup’s grabbed no fewer than four trinkets as she wove through organized desks and around the well-dressed people inside. She didn’t need any of it, not really, but it was nice to do something normal. Well, normal for her. For them.

“I need a nerd!” Lup announced, bursting into a crowded room at random, looking for all the world like she’d been shot from a cannon. A Black human woman blinked at her from where she was standing at a podium, giving a speech to an small audience that consisted of a gnome man and a stocky bespectacled human, who both whirled to look at her.

“Excuse me?” the woman asked, her eyebrows climbing towards her striking white hair.

“I need a nerd,” Lup repeated. “I need someone who can get me to the Astral Plane without, you know….dying.”

“The Astral Plane?” the bespectacled human asked, standing. He was wearing blue jeans and she couldn’t help but think of all the jokes Taako would made. “Why?” Denim nerd’s gaze was laser-focused on her and it made her ears twitch.

“I misplaced something,” Lup replied. “And everyone I’ve talked to says that it’s impossible.” Even the necromancers she’d managed to track down wouldn’t go for it. There was something in the Astral Plane, they whispered. Something that took umbrage with anyone who broke the natural laws of the world and passed judgement that was even worse than death. Kicking a hole into the Astral Plane would surely draw his attention and that was suicide.

_Yeah_, Lup had thought to herself. _I met him. Nice guy. Locked me in a cage and then stole my brother._

“It is,” the human man said, adjusting his glasses. His gaze dropped, as if he was considering. “Unless you’re a necromancer with access to a bond engine.”

Lup was moving before she could stop herself, vaulting over the table and sweeping the human into a bone-crushing hug. The top of his head barely reached her nose, but in that instant, he was the most beautiful man she’d ever seen because he hadn’t told her that it was impossible. 

“Captain Davenport!” someone shouted, throwing the doors open. Lup whirled, the moment broken, and she reached for the secondhand wand she’d stolen. She didn’t know what had possessed her to give Taako her umbrastaff, but it had seemed like a good idea at the time. 

Security officers in matching uniforms crowded into the room. Lup’s ears went flat and she bared her teeth, all the elation evaporating and leaving only the desperate feeling of being _trapped _and _pursued_ behind. 

“Lucretia,” one of the officers said, pointing a wand at Lup. “Mr. Bluejeans, are you alright?”

The human, still so close to Lup that she could hear his heart hammering in his chest, shot the Black human—Lucretia, probably—an urgent look.

“We’re all good in here, Cam,” she said, sighing and long-suffering. Whatever message was in the nerd’s eyes, she read it loud and clear. “Our new recruit is a little…overeager.”

_New recruit?_ Lup wondered. The security officers exchanged disbelieving looks, but nodded and left at her commands. Whoever this Lucretia chick was, Lup needed to learn her whole Zen thing because clearly it worked.

“You said you needed nerds,” Lucretia said, gesturing to the table for Lup to sit. The gnome raised an eyebrow, but didn’t contradict her. “The IPRE has some of the finest minds in Faerun. Why don’t you tell us what, exactly, you misplaced in the Astral Plane.”

This was crazy. They were crazy, they must be, to actually hear her out like this. But Lup would take crazy any day, because it went hand-in-hand with hope.

_Hang on, bro_, Lup thought, hopping onto the table and sitting cross-legged as she began to tell her story. _I’m coming for you_.

* * *

Taako didn’t stick around what he assumed was his room long enough for anyone to follow up with that horrifying revelation. So, taking stock: not only was he stuck in the Astral Plane with three other living people who had long since given up on the prospect of ever going home, but he had also agreed to stay here with the Grim Reaper. Fabulous. All in a day’s work.

Fuck that noise. Taako didn’t care if the three chucklefucks he’d left behind had given up, he wasn’t staying in his place a single minute longer than he had to. He’d made a deal, so what? He’d lied. Taako was a liar, it was what he did, and he’d lie his face off all over again if it meant getting Lulu out of that fucking cage. 

Time was weird in this place, and there was no sun to track the hours as Taako trekked through the castle, making a mental map in his head that seemed to go on forever. The place was fucking _huge_ and it wasn’t magic turning him in circles, it was just…big. For no discernable reason because as far as Taako could tell, he and the other three were the only people in here. Besides Death, of course, but Taako wasn’t exactly counting him.

Eventually, the grayness began to darkness by slow degrees, the only indication that whatever passed for night in this place was falling. Taako lit the tip of the umbrastaff and cast another Light for good measure, throwing it over his head where it orbited like a miniature sun. Fuck, he already missed the sun. He was going to get horrifically pale in this place, he could already tell. He and Lup would have to take a long beachside vacation when he got home. That would be nice, they could hang by the sea and he could work on his tan again. 

His one comfort was that magic still worked in this place. Rested and armed with his spell slots again, Taako felt more like himself and less like a mouse trapped inside a cage with a lion who favored hoods and an annoying flair for the dramatic. He couldn’t cast another Gate to punch his way out of here—he didn’t have the right materials, for one thing, and even if he did, something deep inside told him that he’d gotten lucky the first time. If he tried a spell that advanced again it would probably kill him. Which would leave him in exactly the same spot he was in now, only with even less of a chance of getting home.

The dark was complete and oppressive by the time Taako’s legs started to shake and he realized that he’d slept and his magic had returned to him, but he still couldn’t recall the last time he’d eaten. As if it was waiting for him to remember, his stomach let out a loud rumble and pain shot through his middle as his abdomen clenched, objecting to the lack of food. Fuck, he’d forgotten about that.

Taako wasn’t entirely sure how to get back to his room and honestly, he couldn’t be bothered. He backed against the nearest wall and slid down, pulling his legs up to his chest and tucking his head against his knees.

He was going to get out. He had to. He refused to entertain the notion that he was stuck in here forever. He was Taako, he was _brilliant_. He could figure out a way out of his, he always did. 

Except, now he didn’t have Lup looking out for him.

“_Fuck_!” he swore, the word muffled by his knees. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes and he blinked hard, forcing them back. Taako didn’t cry and he wasn’t about to start now.

“Hey, um…elf guy?” Taako’s head snapped up and in the glow of the Light he’d cast, he could see the human man poking his head around the corner. Magnus. He looked uncomfortable, and there was a massive tray in his hands. “You didn’t tell us your name and, uh, you didn’t come back. The kid was worried that you haven’t eaten in a few days.”

It had been longer than that, but Taako’s attention was immediately drawn to the tray and what was hidden underneath the cloche.

“You going to give me the tray, thug, or just dangle it in front of me?” Taako said.

Magnus blushed and set the tray down in front of Taako. “We usually…I mean, the kid and I, Merle doesn’t usually come…we usually eat together in one of our rooms.”

"Good for you.” Taako yanked the top of the tray open. His stomach cramped again and he didn’t even bother identifying what was in front of him before he started shoving in into his mouth. He didn’t even taste it, just felt the sensation of solid matter sliding down his throat and landing in his uncomfortably empty stomach. 

“Do you, um—” Fantasy Jesus, what was this guy’s _issue_? Taako glared at him, swallowing hard. The food tasted like dust and sat heavy in his stomach. “I mean, do you want some company? I know this is hard for you—fuck, it’s hard for all of us, but Merle told me about your sister. Lup, right?”

Taako was on his feet in an instant, shoving the umbrastaff so close to the human’s face that it was practically up his nose. “Stop talking,” Taako hissed. “I don’t need your company, guy, and I don’t have time to deal whatever game you’re playing. We’re all stuck here together, fine, but I think this place is big enough for me to never have to see your stupid face again, capiche?”

Magnus looked nonplussed. “What _game_?” he asked. 

“Okay, I’m going to use smaller words because clearly there’s a cognitive issue going on here,” Taako snapped. “Fuck off, buddy. I don’t want to see _any_ of you ever again. You want to hang with the half pints, fine. Taako’s good out here.”

“Is that your name? Taako?” Magnus asked hopefully. Fuck, what was _with_ this dude?

Taako made a noise of disgust and turned away, spinning sharply on his heel before taking off into the dark. His stomach heaved again, complaining anew at the ferocity with which it had been filled after so many days of emptiness. The human didn’t follow him. He was smart enough to know better than that, at least. 

It took him hours to find his way back to his room, but Taako was exhausted again and he wasn’t going to spend another night sleeping on the floor if he could help it. His foot landed on something right outside the doorway and he looked down to see the purple fabric of his hat beneath his shoe. Someone had found it and brought it back to him.

Taako snatched the hat, glaring left and right, as if he could catch whoever had left it there, but the long hallway was silent and empty. He spelled the door locked behind him and curled into a ball on top of the bedcovers, clutching his hat tight against his chest. 

And he’d never, ever admit it, but in this horrible place, alone and sick and without Lup, Taako cried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going out of town for a week, so have another chapter! I'm planning on updating once a week or so, place your bets now on whether or not I'll be able to keep to that schedule. 
> 
> Comments and kudos are the Taako to my Lup. 
> 
> Come hang on [tumblr!](https://funkyfaerie.tumblr.com)


	3. Light

It was almost impossible to mark the passage of time with no sun in the sky, but Taako’s internal clock told him that it had been a little over a week by the time he saw one of his fellow prisoners again.

Taako had set up a kind of routine in that time that kept him far away from the others. He wasn’t generally someone who gave a shit about interior decorating, but if he was going to be stuck here for the time being, he might as well give his bedroom some Taako flair.

It took several long days and many burnt spell slots, but eventually the room—which was as massive and depressing and gray as the rest of the castle—was as tricked out as he could manage. Thick curtains draped from the four-poster bed and covered the bare stone walls, which made the room feel smaller, warmer. The wide-open space made him uncomfortable after a childhood of bunking with Lup in spaces barely big enough for them to stand fully upright. Plush rugs covered the floor and squashy armchairs were tucked into every available corner. Tinsel and tiny glass beads in the shape of stars dropped from the ceiling and every surface the wasn’t plush and comfy shimmered like a tacky Candlenights bush. 

The colors were the hardest part. The Astral Plane seemed to hate color with a passion and it had taken some experimentation to turn anything into a shade lighter than beige. It was all muted purples and gray-toned blues. Yellows that looked so much like dehydrated piss that Taako struck them from the color palette altogether and decided to stick exclusively to jewel tones from now on.

Every single thing had been conjured or transmuted, and it was all flashy and gaudy and distracting. Absolutely none of it was his.

It was a work in progress and until Taako found a way home that wouldn’t get him killed by skele-bro or his ass eaten by Legion—whatever the shit _that_ was—he had nothing but time.

Any time not spent in his room, Taako used to explore. Every day he filled in the mental map he was building a bit more, but he wasn’t going to know he way around anytime soon. More than once he’d been tempted to just find a corner to fall asleep in, rather than trudging all the way back to his room but he wasn’t willing to get caught out in the open in case Death came knocking.

There was been a few close calls with the other inmates, but Taako had always heard them well enough in advance that he could dip before any of them tried to be his friend again. Sometimes the three of them were together, but usually it was just the two humans. Taako didn’t know where the dwarf fucked off to and he didn’t really care.

The one flaw in his plan to never see any of them again was food. Clearly, they were eating something or they’d all have starved to death by now, but for all his searching, Taako couldn’t find any sort of kitchen. He’d been transmuting food since Magnus had brought him his first scarfed-down meal, but it all tasted a little bit wrong and had all the nutritional value of eating sand.

He was starving. Very, very slowly, but starving nonetheless. Taako put it out of his mind. He’d be long gone before any real damage could be done and besides, he was an elf. He’d be okay for a little while, at least.

Nighttime was the worst. Now that he wasn’t so exhausted that he might collapse, Taako couldn’t force himself to sleep. Meditative unconsciousness, which most elves used to recharge, had never been his jam so that was a bust too. So he was just left staring up into the impenetrable gloom, waiting for the gray light to return.

Sometimes he heard footsteps. Someone wandering around in the dark, as unable to sleep as he was. They stopped outside his door sometimes and Taako would hold the umbrastaff close, ready for whoever it was to try to break through his locking spell so he could Thunderwave them into next week.

But they never did. Just waffled a little bit and moved on.

On one night, the footsteps were accompanied by voices. Two voices.

“What’s Goldcliff like?” asked the hushed voice of Angus McDonald.

“You’d like it there.” Fucking hell, he was talking to Death. And Death was talking _back_. “The whole city is built between two rivers that come together and then tumble over a massive waterfall. There’s parks and museums and—”

“And libraries?” Angus asked, so excited that something in Taako’s chest twinged.

Death laughed a little. “Yes, and libraries. The biggest libraries you’ve ever seen.”

Their voices began to move away, drifting out of earshot. Without really thinking it through, Taako cast Blink and followed.

They made a bizarre pair: Death in his robe, though the scythe was nowhere to be seen, and the fancy boy who was still in the same outfit Taako had met him in. Angus didn’t look scared. In fact, the two of them almost looked friendly. So, so weird.

“And there’s this…local sport,” Death went on. “Battlewagon racing.”

“Is it exciting?”

“_Very_ exciting. And you want to know the best part? Sometimes, when the sun sets just right, the whole city really does look like it’s made of gold.”

“Wow,” Angus said. “It sounds amazing.” He sighed quietly. “I wish I could see it.”

Death’s hood dipped. “I wish you could’ve too, Angus.” They stopped outside of a door and Death gestured him inside. “Good night.

“Good night, sir.”

Angus’s door had just barely shut when Death turned to where Taako was watching from the Ethereal Plane.

“It isn’t nice to eavesdrop,” he said. The gentle tone he’d used with Angus was gone.

For a second Taako considered just running the other way. This dude scared the shit out of him, whether or not he was nice to little kids, and he was the reason Taako was trapped here. He’d _stolen Lup_.

Lup wouldn’t have been afraid. She wasn’t afraid, not even in that cage. She’d been pissed and Taako could find some of that anger too.

"Yeah,” he said, dropping the spell and stepping into the open. “So is lying to kids.”

“What?” Death asked. He almost sounded surprised.

“Goldcliff is a shithole,” Taako said tartly, putting his hands on his hips. “And battlewagon racing is just a way for rich assholes to get their kicks by betting on whether or not the people desperate enough to race will kill themselves.”

Death cocked his head, considering. “He’ll never know, one way or another. How do you?”

Taako gritted his teeth at the question. He knew because he’d been desperate enough to consider racing, once. Before the caravans, before they realized that there was a way for them to earn their keep. Because there had been a time when he and Lup were so hungry that they were willing to chance their lives in the races.

"So you’re just lying to him?” Taako demanded. Suddenly, the anger wasn’t feigned anymore. All at once, Taako was furious, all of his fear transforming to anger between one breath and another. Who the fuck did this guy think he was, lying to Angus like that when he was the reason that Angus would never see Goldcliff? Angus was alive—they all were—and the Reaper was still keeping them here.

“Would you rather I tell him the truth?” Death snapped, matching Taako’s tone. The temperature in the hallway plummeted. “That the people down there spend their lives killing each other in every manner of horrific ways and that every second they don’t spend killing, they’re just waiting around to die, wasting their precious time on that plane? Would you rather I told him _that_?”

_Fuck_ that was bleak. “I’d _rather_ you let us go, dickhead. We’re not supposed to be here.”

Around him, the darkness became a physical thing, hemming Taako in, swallowing him. In the middle of the black hole that had erupted in the middle of the hallway, the Reaper let his hood drop, his skeletal face glowering down at Taako.

_Fuck me runnin_g, Taako thought, shrinking back. It was the only thing he could force himself to do, backing up until he felt the wall behind him. He didn’t even think of bringing up the umbrastaff to protect himself and even if he had, Taako had forgotten every spell he’d ever learned. They were just gone, swept away by the icy terror that had a vice grip on his insides. He was going to die, this thing—whoever he was—was going to kill him right here.

“Do you think I _want_ you here?” the Reaper snarled. “Do you think I want_ any_ of this? You all came here of your own free will except for—”

Except for who? Angus? Taako’s thoughts whirled and he couldn’t catch any long enough to string together a sentence before the darkness receded and the skull faded back beneath the hood.

“Don’t follow us again,” Death said harshly. “And stay away from Angus.” He started to fade, to vanish again when Taako found his voice.

“Or what?”

The Reaper didn’t respond or reappear, just made a noise of disgust through the dark. Taako took it as a win.

He didn’t hear anyone outside of his room after that. Clearly, the Reaper had changed up the route for his and the kid’s little talks. Honestly, it was driving him a little crazy. Taako knew that he shouldn’t bother—Istus only knew that he had bigger things to deal with—but the fact of the matter was that he was _bored_. Tinkering with his room over and over wasn’t enough to stop the impatient itch from burrowing under his skin and staying there. Besides, if the kid was pals with ole skeleton-head, that could be an inroad. Make nice with Angus, learn more about his jailor, and bingo. Taako got the scythe and a one-way ticket home.

Except the kid seemed to have vanished and as soon as Taako needed him, he couldn’t _fucking _find him.

What he did find was the West Wing. Death had been right about one thing: Taako knew what it was immediately. It had taken him over a week to stumble across the wide, twisting staircase, but he could feel the arcane energy emanating off of the stairs like a massive sign that spelled off ‘FUCK OFF’ in magic. It shook him to his core, dread setting in as surely as the unnatural cold. Everything about this part of the castle was designed to make him anyone walking past turn and run in the opposite direction.

_What are you hiding up there?_ Taako wondered. He laid a single hand on the railing, gazing up at the West Wing and all the secrets within, but the spell ate at him until he thought the furious pounding of his heart might actually break a rib.

“Fuck you,” Taako hissed up the stairs.

“Sir!” Taako turned to see Angus McDonald reaching out to him, his skin ashen. “Sir, that’s the West Wing,” he said in a frantic whisper. “You…you can’t go up there.”

“So I’ve been told,” Taako said, turning away. As soon as he broke eye contact the dread filtered away, like the spell knew that its job was done. “What’s up there, anyway?”

The fear gone, Angus’s eyes were surprisingly calculating for someone his age and Taako was suddenly reminded of Lup when she was about to call him on his horseshit. “He doesn’t want us up there.”

That wasn’t an answer, which was even more interesting. He knew. Taako wasn’t sure how, but the kid knew what Death was hiding up those stairs.

Taako kept his face neutral, his ears still. He shrugged. “Just a question, Agnes.”

The boy frowned. “That’s not my—”

“What’s the deal with the dark in here?” Taako cut him off. Night in the Astral Plane was falling and even during the daytime, the grayscale of this place must be hell on eyes without darkvision.

“I think that’s just the way things are here,” Angus replied. “It’s not so bad. We’ve all got lanterns and once you know the layout, it’s pretty easy to get around.”

“Hm,” Taako mused. “Yeah, sorry, that’s not gonna do it. Not sure about you, kid, but this lighting is doing shit for my complexion.”

“What are you going to do?” Angus asked. Taako started walking away from the West Wing stairs, testing a theory.

“Magic,” Taako replied simply. If the kid was half as curious as Takko suspected—or even half as bored as Taako was—he’d follow. There was a pause and then soft footsteps trotted behind him.

“You’re a wizard, right, sir?” Angus asked, catching up with Taako’s long strides. He hadn’t been planning on dicking with the light, or lack thereof, and he had no idea where to star, but he wasn’t willing to waste an opportunity to get information out of Angus. So now he had to do what he did best: make shit up.

“Did the hat give it away?” Taako asked. “Or the magic?”

“Well, magic-users come in loads of varieties, sir. Warlocks and sorcerers and—”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Taako stopped him before he could build into a full-blown lecture. “Your new cellmate is a bona fide wizard, Ango. Drink it in.”

Oh, fuck the frown was back. “I don’t think we’re _prisoners_.”

Taako didn’t want to to scare the kid off, but he couldn’t keep his voice from going completely flat. “I think you need to update your definition, because we’re trapped here. You’re what, seven?”

“Ten.”

“_Fuck_, you’re small. Ten, fine, whatever. Take it from someone who went through some shit at your age: I’d rather relive that a thousand times than be stuck here. We’re prisoners all right” Taako grimaced, uncomfortable that he’d wandered into honesty without meaning to. Along with driving him insane, this place was also eroding his filter. Fucking fantastic.

“Here,” he said, stopping at random. They’d walked closer to the hall of bedrooms, which seemed as good a place as any to start lighting up this dreary-ass castle.

“What’s here?” Angus asked.

“Watch and learn,” Taako said because burning a spell slot was easier than finishing this conversation. Burning several spell slots, if he followed through on the hazy half-idea that had formed. The idea of using so much magic made him twitchy, but it wasn’t as if he was using it for anything useful anyway. He couldn’t cast another Gate, so what the fuck did it matter?

Holding the umbrastaff in one hand, Taako cast Light. It was a cantrip, the easiest thing in the world, but Angus’s eyes grew so comically wide that Taako had to fight not to find it adorable. The ball of light bloomed in his free hand, growing bigger and bigger until it illuminated nearly half of the hallway. When it was so bright that it almost hurt his eyes to look at, Taako tossed it upwards where it hung close to the ceiling like a miniature sun.

“That’s amazing!” Angus exclaimed. “I won’t run into things anymore when my lamp runs out of oil.”

Taako ignored the way his stomach cramped at _that_ particular mental image. He didn’t care. The kid was a means to an end and Taako would forget about him the second he was free. He didn’t have the time or the emotional bandwidth to worry about some human getting lost in the dark, stumbling over uneven tiles. He couldn’t concern himself with little fancy boys and their scraped knees and broken glasses.

“Alright, lead the way,” Taako said, giving himself a little shake.

“Lead where, sir?”

“Well, you might only be the second smartest person in this place, my dude, but you do know the castle better than I do.”

“I don’t know about second smartest,” Angus replied, giving Taako a side eye that would’ve made Lup proud. “Before the train—I mean, before I came to the Astral Plane, I was the world’s greatest detective!”

_Came to Astral Plane_, Taako thought acidly. _What a nice way to spin getting kidnapped by a hooded psychopath_.

“Yeah?” Taako asked, cocking his head to the side. “How about you detect a few other places for us to let in the light?”

Angus nodded happily before turning and nearly skipping down the hall. They scattered lights all over the castle and by the time they were finished, Taako felt like he’d run halfway across Faerun.

“Last one, Angie,” Taako said. “Make it count.”

“Could we, erm…” Angus hedged, running his hand over his tight black curls.

“Spit it out.”

“Can we put it in my room?” The words were so soft that without his elf hearing he might not have caught them. “I’m not scared of the dark!” Angus added quickly. “But it would be nice not to have to squint when I read.”

Oh good, that chest cramp was back. “Sure, but you know all that reading is just going to make you even more of a nerd.”

“I’m quite all right with that, sir,” Angus said with a small smile.

Taako shrugged his agreement. The skeleton of Angus’s room was identical to Taako’s, except that it looked like he’d transported an entire library inside. The walls were lined with bookshelves that looked full to bursting, their spines cracked and well-worn. A little desk was wedged in a corner, covered in scraps of paper and little scribbles. His bed was in the opposite corner, perfectly made, and Taako suspected that there were several more books hidden under the pillows.

“Fuck, you _are_ a nerd,” Taako muttered as he walked inside. “How many times have you read those books, Ango?”

“Um, a bunch. I mean…I’ve read them all at least once but the Caleb Cleveland books are my favorites.” His little face lit up. “He’s a detective, just like me.”

“That’s cool, kid. How about we get this place lit up so you don’t scrunch up that cute face when you’re reading about Chester Cumberland—”

“Caleb Cleveland—”

“Whatever.” Taako waved a hand, casting a final Light. “Wanna try?”

The smile faded from Angus’s face somewhat. “I’m—I’m not a wizard, sir. I don’t think it’ll work for me.”

Taako scoffed. “That’s what you think, boy detective. How about you let someone else learn you a thing, okay? Hold out your hands.”

This was the thing about magic: it was alive. You could study all you wanted, strike a deal with a god, leverage some celestial patron, but at the end of the day it was the magic that decided whether or not you could use it. Sure, spells would still work and incantations would wring out some spellwork or other, but they would never be as powerful than for someone that loved magic and who magic loved.

Magic loved Taako. He didn’t pull it out of books; it was a _part _of him. Spells just helped focus his intention, but magic was in his blood, his bones, and it answered when he reached out to it. Sometimes in awful and unpredictable ways, but it always answered.

It answered Angus, too. Holy _shit_, did it answer Angus. The light leaped into his hands, crackling merrily and changing color to imitate the light that might hang softly inside a library.

“Wow,” Angus breathed. 

“What are you waiting for?” Taako asked. “Put it somewhere.”

Angus tossed the light towards the ceiling like he’d seen Taako do and it landed over his bed, hovering there and casting the whole room in a warm glow. It was still too gray for Taako’s taste, but progress was progress and he wasn’t going to turn his nose up at it.

Taako’s ears twitched at a knock on the door behind them. “Hey, Angus, have you seen the lights outs—” Magnus poked his head in the room, the question dying on his lips when he saw Taako. No doubt remembering their last interaction. Taako met his gaze, straightening his shoulders in anticipation of round two.

“Oh, shit, I forgot that you’re a wizard,” Magnus said. “Did you do all this?” he asked excitedly, gesturing to the light up above.

Taako shrugged, a little surprised that he wasn’t being yelled at. He’d expected yelling. “Natch.”

“I helped!” Angus said.

“Freakin’ _sweet_, little dude,” Magnus said, holding out a hand for a high-five. “Is it always going to be like this? I mean…I don’t know much about magic but can you maintain it?”

“They’re just cantrips, my guy,” Taako replied. “It’s no big thing.” Not strictly true. Taako could feel every spell he’d cast throughout the castle, every one a tiny drain on his energy, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle.

“_Awesome_!” Magnus said, with feeling. Taako fought the urge to narrow his eyes, still expecting a fight, but Magnus seemed to have forgotten that Taako had shoved the umbrastaff in his face the last time they spoke. Or remembered and didn’t care and Taako wasn’t sure which he trusted less.

“Shoot, you guys must be starving. What are we thinking?”

Taako just stared blankly but Angus answered immediately. “Burgers!”

“Burgers it is,” Magnus agreed and they both turned to Taako. “What about you, bud?”

Part of him wanted to snap at the nickname, his lip already curled over his teeth—this human didn’t _know_ him, he didn’t get to talk to him like they were fucking _friends_—but another part was so sick of eating transmuted food that he was willing to swallow his acerbic comments.

“Whatever,” he said, trying to play off his interest.

“Three burgers, got it.” Magnus walked to a hole in the wall that definitely hadn’t been there a second ago and pulled out a tray with a cloche overtop. The smell from inside was so good that Taako had to hold himself back from tackling the tray out of Magnus’s hands and hoarding all the food in his room.

“Here you go, man.” Taako snatched the proffered plate with maybe a touch too much aggression before diving in. He barely tasted it at all—fuck it was good and he was _hungry_—before it was gone.

Magnus and Angus stared.

“What?” Taako asked defensively, still clutching his plate close to his chest. The two humans exchanged glances.

“You’ve been—I mean, you _have_ been eating, haven’t you, sir?” Angus asked, his eyes round as saucers.

“Yeah, why?”

“Because you just inhaled that like you haven’t eaten anything since you got here,” Magnus said bluntly.

“I’ve been eating,” Taako said, drawing himself up tall. “It’s just all been…transmuted.”

Fuck, he should’ve lied. Taako blamed Angus for this unexpected honest streak and he regretted everything at the horrorstruck looks on both of their faces.

“But, sir!” the boy protested. “Transmuted food has no nutritional value. Everyone knows that!” Angus pushed his plate towards Taako and Magnus did the same, both of them booking at him like he was going to waste away before their eyes. Taako felt that snarly feeling rise up in his throat like bile.

“Fantasy Jesus, no wonder you’re so skinny,” Magnus said, nudging his plate closer.

Taako bared his teeth before Angus pulled two more plates out of the hole in the wall and turned back to him. “It’s magic,” he said, excited in a way that Taako suspected was his baseline setting. “I mean, it must be, but I’ve never been able to figure it out. Maybe we could figure it out together?”

“What about the lights?” Magnus asked. “Are they going to stay on all the time? Or is there some kind of timer system, or—”

“That’s a lot of questions, big guy,” Taako interrupted, starting in on his second burger. He actually tasted it this time and it was good—

But he could do better. Of course he could. He was fuckin’ _Taako_. He wished there was a kitchen in this place. Cooking would give him a way to kill time, something to do while he figured out a way to escape. “It’s just magic. If you want fancy shit like timers and trigger, that’s a whole different thing.” Taako raised an eyebrow at Angus. “You up to it, boychick?”

“Me?”

“Well you’re the smarty-pants, aren’t you?” Taako gestured to all of himself. “The gorgeous fella in your midst is nothing but a humble idiot wizard.”

Angus gave him a shrewd look that made Taako’s ears twitch before he smiled. “I bet I can come up with something. Just give me a few days, okay?”

Taako waved a hand. “Take all the time you need.”

Magnus threw his arms in the air. “And they said, ‘Let there be light!’”

Taako laughed, the tense knot that had lived in his stomach since he’d found Lup missing loosening somewhat. He bit his tongue and turned away. He shouldn’t be _laughing_. Fuck, what was wrong with him?

Taako stood abruptly. “You know where to find me.”

He left Magnus and Angus blinking and confused behind him and refused to feel badly about it. These were not his people. Lup was still out there, and she was alone. Taako needed to get out of here, he needed to get back to her. The people here, they were a means to an end, that was all. There was no reason to talk to them at all except to get information and maybe con Magnus into trying to help him escape. He was big, he could be useful.

_Then why did you let the kid cast Light? _ Asked a voice in his head. _Why ask him to design a more complicated spell? They were both worried about you, they _cared—

“Shut up,” Taako snarled, clenching his fists. Fuck them and fuck this place. He would be gone soon and once he was free, he wouldn’t think about any of them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Taako. 
> 
> Comments and kudos make my world go round! Come yell about TAZ with me on [tumblr!](https://funkyfaerie.tumblr.com)


	4. More Answers, More Questions

Lup hadn’t really met many nerds in her time, but something told her that Barold J. Bluejeans was a king amongst them.

“And then all we have to do is find a safe method of combustion that pairs with the bond rotator spheres and—”

_Sweet Istus, I don’t think he’s ever going to stop talking_, Lup thought. She laid in her usual spot in Barry’s lab, stretched out on a long table she had commandeered on her first day as a “recruit” at the Institute. Apparently, the eggheads here had been trying to find a way to explore the planes way before she’d banged down their door and _apparently_ a rescue mission inspired more donations than a simple exploratory mission. Lucretia and Barry had both ranted about the bureaucratic bullshit of that at great length, but they happily accepted the increase in funding.

Lup had fallen into something of a routine since then. Neither Lucretia nor Davenport has much for her to do, so she spent most of her time with Barry. Not really helping but he seemed to like the company for his nerdy little tangents, even though Lup mostly tuned him out. It was all too slow for her—she needed to find Taako _now_—but hearing Barry ramble about ‘bond engine’ this and ‘the necromantic implications of breaching the Astral Plane’ that made her feel like she was at least doing _something_ and that was worlds better than where she’d started.

Barry was a little like Taako, she thought, when he found a new recipe or method of cooking. Taako could go on for hours about sautéing and sous videing, getting lost in the minutiae of whatever new meal he was working on. Lup had always thought that he learned like he was _looking _for something, some kind of meal or dish that hadn’t been invented yet, and that he’d just keep creating until he found it.

“Wait, shit, did you say combustion?” Lup asked, her attention suddenly snapping back to Barry, his words finally filtering through to her.

Barry nodded. “Yeah. We need something to combine with the bond engine and combustion is the best was to induce forward propulsion and—“

“Why didn’t you say so?” Lup asked excitedly before he could start rambling and lose her with nerd speak again. “Dude, I’ve got combustion _down_.” Without giving him a chance to answer, Lup took her wand from where it was placed behind her ear and let her hands ignite. The new wand wasn’t nearly as powerful as her umbrastaff, but Lup had always had a way with fire and even the weakest magical instrument would’ve let her cast Fireball.

“Oh fuck you can’t—“ Barry started but it was too late. The fire ignited something in the air and the breath in Lup’s lungs evacuated in a rush as Barry hurled himself at her, slamming them both onto the ground to avoid the worst of the explosion.

The air was still too hot and sizzling slightly when Lup got her bearings again. Barry’s entire weight was on top of her, his arms over his head to protect them both from the blast.

“Are you okay?” Barry asked, his voice pitched low and frantic. Lup blinked up at him.

“Note to self: no fire in the lab.”

Barry rolled his eyes, but he mostly looked relieved that she was alright. “I told you that during your orientation, but _someone_ clearly wasn’t paying attention.”

“If you want me to pay attention, next time be more interesting,” Lup replied, though even she couldn’t say that the human who would use his body to shield hers from an explosion was totally boring. Mostly boring, yeah, but not all the way. Huh. Maybe there was more to this Barry guy.

Lup shook her head. _Don’t be ridiculous_.

“Noted,” Barry said drily. “I’ll tell Lucretia that we need to amp up the orientation for the next pyromaniac elf who joins the Institute. Maybe we can do a light show or, I don’t know, _blow up my lab_?”

Lup reached out and rubbed some soot off of his cheek with her thumb. Barry went a stunning red color, almost the same color as Lup’s IPRE robe, and made a sound like he’d swallowed his own tongue. “Sounds good to me,” she said, grinning as his blush deepened even further. “Not gonna lie, this wasn’t a bad way to get my attention either.”

“Barry?” Someone called from the door. “Lup? Is everything okay in here?”

Barry seemed to realize the precariousness of their position all at once and shot to his feet as if he’d been burned, which wasn’t so far off. Lup got up more slowly, unbothered by the company.

“What on earth—?” Lucretia started, gazing at the wreckage Lup had caused. “What happened in here?”

Lup looked at Barry, still beet red and covered in ash and then down at her scorched jacket, before she started laughing. “My bad,” she said. The lab was in shambles but it wasn’t anything a little magic couldn’t fix. “But, good news, I have learned not to cast Fireball in a laboratory setting.”

Lucretia looked nonplussed, her gaze jumping between the two of them. Lup’s grin grew even wider.

“On the bright side,” Barry said and Lup was a little proud to see that he was laughing a little too, “I think I solved the combustion problem.”

Lup waved, her fingertips smoking ever so slightly.

Lucretia still looked flabbergasted but before she could address either of them, someone coughed conspicuously from the door. “Ah yes,” Lucretia said graciously, in a voice Lup had dubbed her Director Voice even though she’d never say so to Lucretia’s face. She only seemed to put it on when she was uncomfortable, but never around Davenport or Barry. Or Lup, she noted with a measure of satisfaction. “I wanted the two of you to meet John. Lup, Barry, this is John Hunger, our public liaison.”

The human that stepped inside the lab to stand beside Lucretia was so nondescript that she almost didn’t notice him. There was...nothing distinct about him. He could’ve been a thousand different human men and Lup had a suspicion that she’d forget what his face looked like the instant he turned away. “John Hunger? That some kind of stage name?”

John smiled blandly. Lup’s ears twitched. “Gods given I’m afraid.” He looked at her with interest. “You must be the new recruit. It’s good that you came when you did. You turned this whole thing around you know.”

“Glad I could help,” Lup said. “So what does a public liaison do, exactly?”

“Well someone has to inspire people to make donations,” John explained. “The Institute is publicly funded. And you’ve done us a great service, you know. People like a cause, something to root for or something to fear. Stopping a monster who’s kidnapping people in the Astral Plane is just what they need to open their wallets.”

“And getting my brother back,” Lup said.

“Excuse me?”

“We’re trying to get my brother home,” she said, too sharply. Both Lucretia and Barry raised their eyebrows at her tone. Lup didn’t care. Taako was her priority, not stopping the monster—which Lup doubted was even possible; she’d seen what he was capable of and she suspected that there wasn’t anything that anyone could do to stop him—and something about his guy rubbed her the wrong way, made her want to hiss and spit at him like a cat. Her ears would’ve gone flat against her head if not for a childhood of learning how to keep them still and expressionless.

“Right, your brother, of course,” John demurred. “That’s obviously our first priority.”

_Yeah fucking right_, Lup thought.

“Well it was nice to meet yah, John, but as you can see, Lup and I have some cleaning up to do in here.”

Thank Fantasy Jesus for Barold Bluejeans. Lucretia and John took their cue to leave and Barry set to work on the lab without mentioning the tension that had coiled in Lup’s chest like a spring. He just started talking about combustion and bonds and the ship they were building to rescue Taako.

And maybe, just maybe, Lup paid a little more attention this time. 

* * *

No one sought him out for a few days and Taako spent that time sulking in his room, certain that there would be humans waiting for him the second he stepped foot outside, both trying to trap him with their smiles and their offers of friendship.

Yeah, fuck that noise. Taako shouldn’t have gotten involved in the first place; he knew better. He always had. People—people who weren’t Lup and half of his soul—just slowed him down and he couldn’t afford to lose speed. Ever. Not in New Elfington, not when they were on the run from their so-called family, not during their time with the caravans, and certainly not now. Stagnation was death and every person he let get close was another anchor trying to sink him.

Taako almost didn’t answer the door when he heard the tentative knock, but something told him that Angus wouldn’t give up easily and even if he did, no doubt Magnus would appear a second later, armed with a lecture about being nice to kids.

“What?” Taako asked.

The slightest bit of hurt flashed over Angus’s face at Taako’s abrupt tone, but it vanished quickly and Taako absolutely, positively didn’t feel guilt twinge in his gut. Because that would be stupid. “I figured out the spell. The triggers. I think I’ve designed it so that we can embed magic switches in the wall so that we can turn them on and off at will. I’ve looked through all the books I can find and it’s going to take a lot of spell-shaping, but I really think we can do it.”

He looked so hopeful that Taako wanted to shut the door in his face. He just barely resisted the urge. “Lead the way, then, smarty-pants.”

Angus’s face lit up and he chattered happily, explaining his design in more detail. It was…really good, actually. It would work. The problem was, Taako was shit at spell-shaping. Transmutation was kind of all-or-nothing. Not a lot of room for half-measures when you were turning something into something else, and spell-shaping was all about shades of gray. He’d never bothered to master it.

Not like Lup had. The loss of her hit him all over again and Taako’s fingers curled into fists by his sides. Fuck, he wanted out of this place. He wanted Lup.

“That should do it,” Angus finished his explanation. “Simple enough, right?”

Not right. Not even a little bit right. In fact, it was the first thing the kid had been wrong about since Taako had met him. The spell was hella complicated and even with the umbrastaff and nothing better to do, it took the better part of the day to make any progress whatsoever. Magnus joined them for a little while, waffling unhelpfully before heading to get them something to eat. Taako wolfed down the chicken cacciatore and kept working. This spell wasn’t going to get the best of him. He was _Taako_. He could do this.

It was just taking for-fucking-ever.

“Merle!” Angus said, noticing the dwarf hanging out a little way away from where they’d camped out on the floor, magical ingredients and papers with bits of spells and equations scattered around them like arcane debris. “Merle, look! We’re making lights for the castle.”

Merle looked a little like he might bolt before eventually coming closer. “Looks complicated,” he said gruffly.

“Yeah, it’s no cantrip,” Taako complained. “Hey, you’re a cleric, right?” He remembered Merle saying something like that on his first day here. The dwarf’s face closed off immediately, like thunderclouds crowding in the sky. “How about a little help here, shortstack?”

Merle didn’t answer, just flipped him the bird with—a wooden finger? Attached to a wooden arm? Fucking _what_? How had Taako missed that he had a whole wooden prosthetic arm?

Because he’d been hiding and sulking. Right.

“What’s his problem?” Taako asked. “And they call me lazy and apathetic.”

“Merle, um…” Angus said, still looking at the corner where Merle had stomped off. “He can’t do magic anymore, I don’t think. His spells come from his god and his god isn’t here. The Astral Plane, I mean. This is the Raven Queen’s territory and the other gods can’t interfere. So, Merle can’t do magic.” Angus sighed sadly. “I think he misses it.”

“No shit he misses it,” Taako said, scandalized. The only—the single, solitary—reason he hadn’t gone completely insane here was that he could still do magic. He didn’t know what he would do if his powers just…didn’t work somehow. It would be like losing, well… It would be like losing an arm.

“Fuck this place,” Taako said harshly. His stomach roiled with nausea and this time it had nothing to do with hunger.

“I know you don’t like it here…” Angus said, hesitating. “But it’s not…I mean, it’s not all bad, is it?”

Taako met Angus’s wide eyes. “It’s all bad, little dude. All of it. And I don’t give a shit if any of you follow me out when I go, but if you have a choice and you choose to stay here, well then you’re not nearly as smart as you think you are.”

Angus flinched a little, like he’d been stung, and some strange, foreign impulse in Taako made him want to take the words back, to lie and say that the Astral Plane wasn’t all bad, but he clenched his jaw and resisted. He expected Angus to pick up his stuff, maybe tell Taako to go fuck himself, but the kid just nodded to himself and kept working, digging through his books for anything that might help the spell along.

Taako was still working well after the darkness returned, his own personal Light floating above his head as he tried again and again to get the spell to work. Nothing helped. He felt like he’d tried everything and the drain on his power made him feel as gray as everything else in this place.

They hadn’t seen Merle again and Magnus joined them for dinner, sticking around for a while before disappearing, and for a few hours it was just Taako and Angus working away. Taako was just about to scream in frustration when he looked over and saw that Angus had fallen asleep in a pile of books like a weird, bookish mouse. His glasses were slightly askew and his little newsie cap lay on the floor from where his head flopped to one side.

It was adorable. Shit.

“I see you didn’t take my advice.”

Fuck a duck. Taako nearly jumped out of his skin as the Reaper appeared out of the blackness without a sound, scaring him half to death. Har har, irony abounds. He barely managed to keep himself from swearing loud enough to wake Angus.

“Don’t do that,” Taako snapped in a hissed whisper. “Do you want me to wake the kid up?”

The Reaper looked at Angus, nestled in his little book nest, and waved a hand.

“He won’t hear us now.”

“That is not nearly as comforting as you think it is, dude,” Taako replied.

Death ignored him. “What are you doing? The magic…this is complicated spellwork.”

“Don’t know what you know about it, Skeletor, but considering it’s gloomy as shit in here all the time and the humans don’t have darkvision, it seems kinda obvious.”

“You’re trying to make lights?” Taako didn’t know how to discern the Reaper’s tone, but there’s something incredulous in it, like he wasn’t sure whether to be surprised or impressed. Either way, a nice chance of pace from his usual growl. 

“Uh, duh,” Taako said, gesturing to the spelled light above his head. “You might be content wandering around in a hood all the time, but Taako don’t play like that. Gray is _so _not my color.”

Death made a considering sound and cocked his head, considering. “I told you to stay away from Angus,” he said, a sharp change of subject that caught Taako off guard.

“He follows me, kemosabe, not the other way around,” Taako said, planting his hands on his hips. “And if you didn’t want him clinging to me, barnacle-like, then why don’t you—hm, I don’t know? _Let me go_.”

Despite the darkness beneath Death’s hood, Taako could feel the intensity of his red gaze. “You have to stay.”

“That’s not an answer,” Taako snapped. “What about Lup? Why did you take her? Why lock her up when the rest of us have free reign?” _Free-ish_, he amended in his head, remembering the spell that warded the West Wing.

“I don’t know what brought her here,” the Reaper replied and Taako was more surprised that he’d bothered answering than anything else. He hadn’t really expected him to stick around once the questions started. “But she refused to stay. She was going to try to make it past Legion. ‘I’m going to burn this bitch to the ground,’ was the exact quote, if memory serves.”

Yeah, that sounded like Lup all right. Death nodded towards Angus, still sleeping soundly, blissfully ignorant of the tense exchange happening beside him. “You can understand why I couldn’t let that happen.”

“You were trying to protect them?” The words slipped out unbidden, shock making Taako’s mouth drop open.

“Even if she made it out, she wouldn’t have made it past Legion,” Death said with unnerving certainty. “She wasn’t going to stop trying, so I put her into the tower until she could see reason. Safest for everyone.”

None of this made any sense. None of it made any fucking _sense_. Why would he kidnap them and then turn around and try to keep his captives safe? What did he care? And what the hell was Lup doing in the Astral Plane in the first place? Taako’s head spun with the implications of everything the Reaper had revealed.

“Wait!” Taako hissed as Death began to vanish again, apparently bored with this conversation. “Wait, I don’t understand—“

But he was already gone.

“Asshole,” Taako growled under his breath. With the Reaper gone, whatever spell kept noise from reaching Angus had lifted and he shifted in his sleep. Taako considered waking him fully for a moment before dismissing it. Let the kid sleep. Taako knelt by the boy’s side, scooping Angus into his arms—fuck, he was so little—before bringing him to bed. Angus almost woke a couple of times during the transfer, but he ultimately remained asleep.

Taako’s head dipped as he put Angus into his bed and drew up the covers and his hat fell. Before he could grab it again, one of Angus’s hands closed around it, sleepily tugging it close. Taako left it with him.

* * *

“Taako!”

Immediately, Taako regretted every nice thing he’d ever done for Angus. It felt like he’d only been asleep for a few minutes—back in his own bedroom and sans his purple wizard’s hat—when a tiny fist knocked frantically on his door.

“Taako, you’ve got to come see this!”

Taako slid out of bed, feeling like hammered shit and quickly transmuted his outfit into a flowy pink peasant top with a studded leather belt around his waist and black leggings. His boots were cheetah-print, four inches taller than they needed to be, and absolutely phenomenal. He was trapped in hell but that wasn’t any excuse to go around looking anything less than fabulous, and it wasn’t as if he’d ever had more than one set of clothes anyway. He just kept transmuting the same clothing and over until the magic wore them apart and he could buy new ones. It was an old habit from when he didn’t have two gold pieces to rub together and besides, less clothes made it easier to travel light. He left less of an impression that way.

“What?” Taako magicked the door open, still pulling his hair into a haphazard braid that he tossed over his shoulder. “Ango, I don’t mind telling you how dangerous it is to interrupt Taako’s beauty sleep.” He gestured to his face. “This needs to marinate overnight, you feel me?”

Angus just grabbed his sleeve, tugging him outside into the hallway where he’d left all their books and materials last night. They were still in their original positions, untouched, but that was the beginning and the end of the sameness.

There was light. Not Light, _light_. This wasn’t one of his spells, cantrip or otherwise, but the hallway was lit up as if he’d cast a dozen Lights and hung them at equal intervals above them. Taako let Angus drag him around the castle, searching every nook and cranny for hidden switches in the walls that triggered the lights. They were everywhere, far more than Taako would have ever been able to cast on his own. Fuck, even if all four of them were wizards, he didn’t think they’d be able to produce this much magic. The castle was massive, and even the lights that hung from the highest ceilings cast a warm glow on everything beneath. Taako couldn’t be sure, but he thought that the gray had lessened a little, though that could just be his imagination.

“He did this!” Angus exclaimed happily, wheeling on Taako looking like he had anything to do with this. “Did you say something to him? Did you explain what we were trying to do? Can you believe it? I won’t get lost again!”

“It’s great, Agnes,” Taako said, mustering up some enthusiasm that just made him even more confused than he was before. “Why don’t you go show the others?”

“Don’t you want to come with me?”

“No.”

Angus nodded and scampered off, leaving Taako alone. It wasn’t better, wandering the castle with the lights on. Light or dark, he was still trapped and being able to see the inside of his cage didn’t help him find a way out.

Taako waited until night had fallen again before perching himself beside the stairs to the West Wing, just far enough from the steps that the spell couldn’t get a good grip on his insides and twist them into knots. He waited. He wasn’t entirely sure what for, or if the Reaper would even show up, but he stayed anyway.

“You picked a very dangerous spot to loiter,” Death said before he stepped out of the darkness.

“Gotta get your attention somehow,” Taako said. “You don’t exactly have a stone of farspeech. Or do you?”

“What do you want?”

“To ask why,” Taako replied simply. “You didn’t have to do—“ He waved a hand in the air— “all of this.”

“It’s nothing.”

“No, it’s not. This is a fuckload of magic, my guy, and I burned almost all of my spell slots just trying to get _one_ of these to work. So why bother? Why do any of this? Why light this place and try to…protect us and not just let us go? Why _keep_ us?” He couldn’t wrap his head around it. Taako had driven himself insane all day, trying to make some kind of sense of all this, but there were huge pieces missing, making it impossible for him to fit the others together in any semblance of order.

He expected Death to make the dark physical again, to back Taako up until he had no choice but to turn and run, but he just stood still and silent in his black hood.

“I’m not the reason you’re here,” he said at last, quiet. Taako’s hearing must’ve been messing with him because Death’s accent almost seemed to slip. “But I’m the reason you have to stay. I knew that Angus is afraid of the dark. I should’ve fixed this sooner.”

“Well if you’re taking requests,” Taako said, the glib words coming to his lips as his mind spun. “Mind asking the Raven Queen to make nice with Merle’s god? Homeboy’s grumpy as all hell without his magic and honestly, I don’t blame him.

_Where did that come from_? Taako wondered. He hadn’t meant to ask that, but hey, today was full of surprises. Death jerked stiffly at the mention of the Raven Queen and straightened.

“Don’t come looking for me again, Taako.”

The dark swallowed him again before Taako could open his mouth to ask any more question, to protest, to say anything. He was halfway back to his room before he realized that this was the first time he’d heard the Reaper use his name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seems like for every answers, our Taako's got a hundred new questions. Wonder what he'll do to find out the truth? 
> 
> Probably something stupid. 
> 
> Bring on the comments and kudos! Hearing from yall makes my day, and I'm on  
[tumblr](https://funkyfaerie.tumblr.com) if you want to find me there


	5. Run

It didn’t take Taako long to start resenting the lights. Setting up that spell had been a challenge, a project, something to keep his mind off of his tenure as a living person in the land of the dead. He wasn’t any closer to finding a way home and at least the light spell had been _possible. _

He was climbing the walls, plain and simple, and his restless energy eventually drove him outside to the massive garden that surrounded the castle. Fuck, maybe he could find a hole to the Prime Material Plane in one of the gigantic hedges. Stranger things had happened.

It was out in the garden that Taako ran into Merle again, muttering to the ink-black plants that grew in strange, unnatural shapes. Like a weirdo.

“What are you doing out here?” Merle asked, noticing Taako as he skulked around. “Haven’t seen you in the gardens before.”

“Hey, man, I'm just on a walk, Don't let me interrupt your date with the topiary.”

Merle flushed under his beard. “It’s not—”

“Just a dwarf dirty-talking some plants,” Taako said, putting his palms up. “Most natural thing in the world.”

“I’m not _dirty-talking_—”

“Hey, who am I to judge?” Taako continued. He didn’t know why he was winding Merle up. Maybe because he was bored and frustrated and Merle was the only one who seemed to hate being here as much as Taako did. “I’m more into tall, dark, and handsome types myself, but if you prefer ‘em leafy—”

To Taako’s surprise, Merle burst out laughing, doubling over and clutching at his sides before he managed to compose himself. “You’re a real jackass, you know that?”

“So I’ve been told,” Taako said, smiling in spite of himself. “If you think I’m bad, you should meet my sister—” His words cut off and the smile faded.

“The one who set herself on fire,” Merle said, nodding gently. “I remember.” He didn’t push, didn’t ask any questions, and for once, Taako didn’t feel the urge to run away. It was so novel, the lack of instinct to flee, that he sat down on the granite path and just watched Merle work for a while. He kept talking to the plants the whole time as he picked and pruned and Taako watched as wilting leaves brightened and coal-colored flowers began to bloom again.

Taako didn’t know much about the pantheon—he’d never had much use for the gods—but Taako was willing to bet that Merle had pledged himself to whichever god was in charge of nature. 

“It was brave,” Merle said after a while. “Coming for her and choosing to stay. Stupid. So, _so_ stupid, but brave.”

He was wrong, but Taako didn’t correct him. Taako wasn’t brave. He was a survivor, a pragmatist, and at the end of the day, Lup was better off in the world. “I miss her.”

Shit, what was _with _this place? Taako couldn’t ever remember being so honest.

“I miss my kids,” Merle said softly, sitting down beside Taako. Not took close, not crowding him, and Taako waited for the itchy feeling to crawl under his skin but it didn’t come. “Mavis and Mookie.”

“Mavis, Mookie, and Merle?” Taako asked thickly, because the other option was bursting into tears and like hell was he going to do that in front of a perfect stranger. Missing Lup was a physical ache in his chest. He felt like he should be spitting blood, the pain was so intense, but none of the damage was physical.

“Never said creativity was my strong suit,” Merle admitted, fiddling with a potted plant that he hadn’t gotten around to planting. “Mavis—whew. That girl. Smartest cookie in the jar, I’m tellin’ you. Too smart for me, that’s for sure. And Mookie, well. He’s enthusiastic. More energy than a coked-up bugbear, but he’s got the biggest heart of anyone around.”

Instinctively, Taako knew that Merle wouldn’t push, but he found himself talking anyway. “She’s half of me.” Taako tapped his chest where his heart beat cavernously behind his ribs without the sense of his sister to fill the space. “I don’t know how—” He swallowed hard. “I don’t know how to _be_ without her.”

“I know how you feel,” Merle replied.

Part of Taako wanted to snap that, _no, he didn’t_—how could he?—but between losing his kids, his eye, an arm, and his _magic_, maybe Merle did have an idea of how Taako felt. Like he’d lost a piece of himself. Like he’d lost several pieces, in fact.

Merle cleared his throat loudly. “I was, erm—I was tryin’ to make it right with the kids when…you know. When I came here.” He looked away and Taako resisted the ridiculous urge to put his hand on Merle’s shoulder. “I was kinda a deadbeat at the start, but I thought, maybe if I could reach the Celestial Plane, if I could do something no one’s ever done before, I could show ‘em that their ole dad wasn’t such a waste after all.” He paused and Taako absolutely did not notice the way he swiped at his eyes. “Made a wrong turn or two along the way. Guess I should’ve just spent time with them instead of adventuring, but uh. Live and learn.”

“Live and learn,” Taako echoed faintly.

They didn’t really talk after that, just sat in comfortable silence.

He was going to get out of here. Any of the doubt Taako had denied feeling disappeared in a blaze of conviction. He didn’t care what it took, he was getting his ass out of here and maybe—just maybe—he’d try to prop open the door for the others when he went. _Maybe_.

One thing was for sure: if he had a prayer of ever seeing Lup again, he had to get into the West Wing.

Easier said than done, obviously. Taako poked and prodded around the stairs as best he could without letting Death—or Angus—know what he was up to. The spell set into the stairs definitely had a proximity trigger, so hopefully if he got far enough into the West Wing, he would be able to push his way through.

Or, it permeated the entire wing and the Reaper would stumble across Taako curled into a ball, half-mad with fear, and promptly kill his ass dead for trespassing.

He considered casting Blink before dismissing it just as quickly. That spell wouldn’t let him cross a big enough area in the Ethereal Plane to get from the bottom of the stairs into the West Wing. Stupid, massive castle and its unreasonable proportions. The only thing left to do was some kind of shielding spell. Taako took some solace in the knowledge that Lup would’ve been even more up shit’s creek than he was in this situation. Evocation was even further from abjuration than transmutation.

Then again, Lup could probably just blast her way into the West Wing and be done with the whole thing.

He couldn’t just _cast _Shield because he didn’t know dick about protection magic and it wasn’t as if he had time to learn a new specialization. The best he could manage was transmuting a pillow off of his bed into a literal shield and somehow magicking it to protect him from the spell on the stairway.

Lup would’ve laughed herself stupid to see him trying to fashion a shield when he’d never had any use for armor before. Lup worked little protections into everything Taako transmuted for her—with the frequency that things exploded around her, she would’ve blown herself to bits ages ago without them.

Crafting something that had a prayer of getting him through the spell took him the better part of four days—it would’ve taken less, but the others came looking for him if he disappeared for too long and Taako couldn’t afford to arouse suspicion. What he really needed was someone to practice with, someone to throw combat spells at him for the shield to block, but that wasn’t an option for obvious reasons. Fuck, how did people _cope_ without a twin? No wonder everyone just staggered around like they were lost all the time.

This time, Taako waited until it was almost noon to creep to the West Wing. Death was much more active at night and the shield wasn’t going to be any more ready than it was at this moment.

“Comin’ for you, Lulu,” Taako muttered to himself, activating the spell on the transmuted shield. He took a deep breath before darting forward, as quickly and silently as he possibly could. If this was where the Reaper stayed during the day, he couldn’t afford to make any noise.

The spell hit him before he even reached the stairs, chilling the blood in his veins and sending dread pulsing through him with every frantic beat of his heart. Fear clawed at him with icy fingers, digging in wherever it could find purchase. The breath froze in his lungs and it took everything in him to keep moving instead of turning and fleeing back the way he came.

_Help me, Lup_, Taako thought desperately, reaching for something—anything—to keep him going. The spell was a physical thing, a force that fought against him as hard as he pushed against it. Every step he took felt like it was through pudding, and the harder he fought, the worse it became. The spell shrieked all around him like he’d been caught in an ice storm, insisting that he go back or else face the consequences.

He wasn’t going to make it. Taako couldn’t tell if he’d reached the top of the steps or if he was just frozen in place at the bottom. He couldn’t tell if he was moving anymore—hell, he didn’t even know if he was still _breathing_. His vision whited out and he couldn’t hear anything beyond his heart pounding in his ears.

He wasn’t going to make it.

_Yes, you are_. Taako knew he must be going crazy because he heard Lup’s voice hissing in the back of his mind.

“Yes, I am,” Taako repeated through clenched teeth.

And then he was through. Taako’s vision cleared and his heart clamed as he found himself in a hallway that looked identical to every other in the castle. The aftermath of the spell still left him shaking and upset but he’d made it. He was _there_. Taako strapped the shield against his back and pressed his new hat—Angus had never given back the original one, the little thief—more firmly against his head. There better be something worth finding up here, to make it worth all of that.

Taako squared his shoulders and started searching. He didn’t know how long he had, or if he’d triggered some kind of alarm by fighting through the spell, but he needed to move and move fast. Most of the rooms were empty shells, stripped of anything that might make the livable but that wasn’t altogether surprising. What did Death need comfort for? The air chilled as Taako picked his way through the West Wing. None of the rooms were locked, which would’ve been surprising if Taako hadn’t had to battle through one of the levels of hell to get up here.

The door to the last room swung open with a squeak that made Taako flinch and it was immediately clear that if there was anything to find, it was here. It was _freezing_, for one thing, and it wasn’t empty, for another.

It was destroyed. Everything in it looked wrecked: furniture shredded, paintings ripped out of their frames, furious gouges torn into the walls. There was _color_, that was the most striking thing. There was color in here the way that there wasn’t anywhere else in the Astral Plane and all of it had been destroyed.

_Bastard_, Taako thought furiously. He’d wrung the grayness out of his room by force and the Reaper had a cache of color—of _life_—tucked away up here and he had the audacity to mangle all of it.

All but one item. There was one bit of furniture left untouched, an end table tucked into a corner by a flung-open window. Taako crept closer, his ears twitching nervously. A tall, silver-limned bell jar sat on the table, stark amongst the chaos like the only survivor of a massacre.

Inside was a disk of sapphire. Perfectly round and smooth in a way that would be impossible in nature and so flawless that Taako marveled at the craftsmanship it must have taken to make it. The only imperfection that he could see was the color. Over half of it was dull, like the blue had slowly leeched away over time.

But why? Why make something like this? Why place it so reverently? Taako couldn’t parse it, couldn’t force it to make sense.

Taako gently lifted the top of the jar and the magical energy of the discolored sapphire hit him like a heatwave in the freezing cold room. It felt _alive_ like nothing else in this place and Taako found himself reaching out to touch it.

He didn’t get very far.

“_Stop!_” A hand gripped the back of Taako’s collar and flung him away so hard that he flew through the air. His back hit the wall hard and he collapsed to the ground in a heap.

_Fucking hell_, Taako thought, dazedly pushing himself up on his elbows despite the bruises already blooming across his skin. Maybe Lup was right to incorporate armor into her wardrobe.

“What do you think you’re _doing_?” Death roared, crouched protectively over the sapphire. “Do you have any idea what you could have done?”

“Look,” Taako said, one arm wrapped around his aching side as he stood. “I like treasure as much as the next guy, but I think you’re taking this a bit far.”

It was the wrong thing to say. Oh, sweet mother of shit was it the wrong thing to say.

“You insolent—” the Reaper growled before the worlds cut off in an onslaught of darkness that surrounded him like a personal hurricane. It swirled beyond him, almost looking like it was out of his control, and Taako’s hair twisted in the unnatural wind. He pressed himself against the way, trying to stay away from the howling darkness as it grew and grew.

“I’m sorry,” Taako cried over the wind. “I know I shouldn’t have come here but—”

“I’ve _tried_!” If Taako wasn’t so overwhelmed by his own fear, he might have noticed the way pain broke in the Reaper’s voice. “I’ve done everything I can and nothing helps! You could’ve ruined _everything_!”

Taako didn’t know what the hell he was talking about—or who he was even talking _to_—but he also knew that talking this guy off of the vicious edge was the best way not to get killed. “I’m sorry,” he said again. “I’m sorry but you’ve gotta take some deep breaths, dude, because—”

“You do not order me!” Oh _fuck_. Red eyes glowed as the maelstrom grew in ferocity, filling the room. It surged towards Taako in a killing wave and he lifted the umbrastaff, firing off the first spell that he could think of. The Fireball ripped away some of the darkness and caught the ruined drapes in the window above the sapphire. They crackled and Death roared again, momentarily distracted. The darkness receded a bit as he dove to protect the disk.

Taako wasn’t brave. He didn’t even think of staying to fight, of using Death’s distraction to gain the upper hand. He just ran, blasting through the darkness and tearing through the West Wing like a bat out of hell. Like Death himself was chasing him. He was dead if the Reaper caught up to him, that much he knew for damn certain.

Fuck this place. Fuck the castle, fuck Death, fuck the whole Astral Plane. Taako was _out_.

He was steps away from the massive front doors when he ran headlong into a sturdy body.

“Taako?” Magnus asked, catching him before he could fall. The human’s kind face twisted with concern. “Hey. Are you—what happened to you?”

“I have to get out of here,” Taako said breathlessly, wriggling out of Magnus’s grip with a wince. He was starting to think that something was broken, not just bruised. “He’s going to kill me.”

A roar echoed from the West Wing and the magicked lights flickered and then went all at once.

Magnus’s face closed off and for a moment Taako worried that he might try to keep him there, but Magnus just nodded. “I’ll slow him down. You run.”

“Wait!” Taako shouted as Magnus began to rush towards the storm. “Take this.” Taako flung the shield off of his back and Magnus caught it deftly with one hand. Taako didn’t waste any more time, holding his umbrastaff tight as he burst into the gardens, towards the massive gate that surrounded the castle. He heard Death bellow something indistinguishable behind him and put on a burst of speed, blasting through the gate and into the nothingness beyond.

He ran. He ran and ran until the caste was long behind him. He ran until his legs gave out beneath him and he had to brace himself to keep from falling flat on his face.

This was better, he told himself. It had to be. Anything was better than being trapped with the Reaper.

The thought had barely occurred to him when the whispering started.

“Back,” a voice that was many voices hissed. “He has come back, the living one has come back.”

Legion. In his haste to get the hell out of there, Taako had forgotten about the monster that lurked beyond the wall. He’d been a little preoccupied on the monster inside the wall, the one who was interested in turning him inside-out.

“Perfect,” Taako muttered. His crest ached and his lungs burned and he couldn’t see shit, and now he had to deal with this joker. “Thug—thugs? I really don’t know if you’re one person or multiple—I’m having a really shit day so if you wouldn’t mind moving along.”

“Join us,” Legion whispered, but the volume was building. “You’re alive—”

“Yeah, you seem kind of hung up on that,” Taako sniped.

“Join us,” Legion said again. “Join your strength to ours. Join us and help us be free!”

Taako swung around as the voices shifted around him, the tip of the umbrastaff lit but he couldn’t catch a glimpse of whatever body-slash-bodies the voices belonged to.

“What are you?” he demanded.

“We are Legion,” the voices said. “We are the souls of those trapped in Death’s prison against our will.”

Well Taako could relate to that.

“Join us,” Legion howled, so close now that the hair on the back of Taako’s neck stood up. He whirled, but there was nothing to see. “Your strength will help us be free! We will be among the living again. We will cast off the shackles of Death.”

Taako tossed up a useless Light, tapping his chin as if he was considering the proposal. “Nah, I don’t think so. Taako’s good out here. Not really a joiner. More of a solo act.” Whatever this thing was—as tempting as it may be to try to use Legion to hitch a ride out of here—Taako didn’t trust this “us” and “we” bullshit. He was all original, baby.

Legion snarled wordlessly, a sound of discordant anger like nails raking down a chalkboard. All in all, not great.

“Then we will take it from you.”

“Thanks, but no thanks,” Taako said, spinning the umbrastaff in a wide arc as he cast Magic Missile. He still couldn’t see but one of the volleys must have hit _something_ because Legion shrieked in pain and rage. Not so much hurt but definitely pissed.

Okay, it was definitely time to go.

Taako picked a direction at random and ran as fast as he could manage but it wasn’t long before the voices were right on top of him. Something crashed into him from behind and Taako collapsed beneath an impossibly heavy weight that pressed down on him. The light from the umbrastaff caught something for a split second—something horrible, with multiple sets of hollow black eyes and gaping mouths on an amorphous, undulating form—before it vanished again.

“Fucking shit, what _are _you?” Taako gasped around the pressure on his chest.

“We are Legion.” Pain exploded beneath his hip and Taako screamed as something sharp slashed at him, cutting nearly to the bone. “And if you will not offer your strength, we will take it from you. We will swallow you whole, living one, and then you will be part of us.”

Taako tried to wriggle out of Legion’s grip, but they were too strong, too heavy. The arm holding the umbrastaff was pinned, but Taako managed to position it in order to try levitating the monster off of him. It worked a little and he managed a single full breath before the claws raked down the side of his face.

The world would’ve darkened if it wasn’t already black and Taako couldn’t hear himself scream over the ringing in his ears. He could feel it, though, the rawness in his throat like a sawblade running over his vocal cords. There was blood in his eyes, in his mouth, and Taako knew he was going to die. This thing was going to kill him and use him for _whatever_ it was trying to accomplish and there wasn’t anything he could do about it.

He was never going to see Lup again. The thought cut him to the quick and Taako kicked and struggled, tried to cast _something_ but nothing made a dent.

Beyond Legion’s snarling, beyond his pulse, Taako could barely make out another furious roar before the weight lifted off of him all at once.

“Run!” someone shouted at him and Taako saw the blinding silver of a scythe slice through the gloom. The fucking Reaper slashed at Legion, a furious battle that Taako could barely see. “_Go_!” Death said and something lifted Taako back to his feet and guided him away from the fight. Legion roared again and Taako watched as a rift split through the blackness, revealing the grayness of the castle beyond. Safety, of a sort.

The Reaper had saved him. He was fighting Legion to give Taako a chance to escape. Maybe Taako _had_ died or entered a new plane where the rules of nature and sense had all decided to give him the collective middle finger. He was officially in opposite land.

He was also fucking _outtie_. Going back to the castle felt like a death sentence, but it was safer than hanging out in the dark with a multi-voiced monster that was way too into vore.

Limping badly and leaning heavily on the umbrastaff, Taako half-staggered, half-crawled towards the rift.

He’d almost made it when Legion cackled, high-pitched and terrible. “You are weak,” it hissed. “Wretched and cursed. You should not have come out of your cage, Reaper.”

Death was losing the fight. Taako could see the shine of his scythe swinging, but with less and less frequency and Legion just—kept—laughing.

“You have given us a gift, Reaper. We are delighted to destroy you so much earlier than we expected. Thank you for delivering yourself to us.”

Death loosed a blast of something Taako couldn’t see but he could feel the magic as it erupted. It wasn’t enough. Legion howled in pain, but then there was a violent _crack_ and the scythe stopped swinging.

Taako was at the rift—he was nearly through. He could just go. He _should_ go. Without the Reaper, finding his way home would be even easier. The guy had just tried to kill him for Istus’s sake! Taako should just go. He was already going.

But Angus would be sad. The thought popped into Taako’s head out of nowhere. Angus would be sad if the Reaper died—could Death die? Something to ponder later—and for some fucking reason, that was enough to make Taako pause.

_Don’t be stupid_, Taako thought. But he wasn’t moving. He wasn’t stepping through the portal.

“Oh, _dip_,” Taako snarled, wheeling around on his good leg. “Yo, bonedaddy! If you’re not dead, I’m going to need you to light this shit up!”

“Why are you—” Death’s voice was weak and Taako didn’t like the swell of relief he felt at hearing it. That was confusing and he didn’t have time to deal with it right now. “You need to go!”

“Let there be light, asshole!” Taako shouted.

There was a pause and then the darkness peeled away, revealing Legion in all of its eldritch horror. The whole massive, pulsing creature loomed over the Reaper’s cloaked form, broken on the craggy ground, looking seconds away from crushing him flat. Taako’s hands shook around the umbrastaff and he forced them still, trying to swallow his fear. He only had one—maybe two—more spells in him and he couldn’t afford to miss.

“Hey, Legion!” Taako shouted, trying to draw its attention. “The motto is ‘safe, sane, and _consensual_,’ bitch!” Praying that his aim was true, he cast Stone Skin. The spell wasn’t even close to powerful enough to petrify such an enormous creature—and _fuck_, Legion was big—but it was enough to slow it down. Legion screamed its frustration, suddenly hobbled, its kill stolen from it at the last moment, and Taako didn’t give it a chance to shake off the spell before casting another.

Using Mage Hand, Taako grabbed the back of the Reaper’s cloak and, in a moment of delicious irony, launched him straight through the portal.

Legion spat and cursed, breaking through the Stoneskin and surging towards the rift, but it closed the instant Taako hobbled his ass through it.

“What were you thinking?” Death demanded, up and suddenly very close to Taako. Darkness swirled beneath the hood and Taako could only see out of one eye, but he could swear that there was a _face_ looking at him this time, not just a skull. “You could’ve gotten yourself killed.”

Well wasn’t that ironic, considering homeboy was trying to remove his head from his shoulders er, an hour ago. Besides, Taako sure he was halfway dead on his own, but even so, Death’s concern was upsetting. It just made thing so _muddy_. “You’re welcome, dickhead.”

“What in the name of Pan’s hairy ass!” came Merle’s gruff voice from down the path. The dwarf barreled towards them, stopping short and paling dangerously when he saw the Reaper. Taako must’ve looked worse than he thought because Merle’s eyes widened in panic. “What _happened to you_?”

“’Sup, shortstack,” Taako said. The world was blurring now, everything moving in and out of focus in a way that had nothing to do with his impaired depth perception. “Look, I know you’re not exactly rolling in magic, but I, uh—” He staggered. “I’m gonna need you to keep me alive, mmkay?”

Then he collapsed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments are the pyromania to my Lup! Come chat with me on [tumblr](https://funkyfaerie.tumblr.com)


	6. Changes

Lup woke up with a start. Technically, she didn’t need to sleep and rarely did when she and Taako were in the caravans—someone had to keep watch to make sure none of the assholes they were traveling with tried to rob them—but she’d been sleeping more and more recently. Probably something to do with having a door that locked. 

But now, sleep was the last thing on her mind. Something was wrong. Something was so, so wrong but she couldn’t put her finger on what it was. Panic crept under her skin and forced her out of bed, pacing around her Institute dorm. It didn’t help. The space was too small—barely big enough for a bed and a dresser, though practically a palace compared to places she’d lived in the past—and whatever was inside her was too big.

Still in her pajamas and without bothering to put on shoes, Lup padded into the hallway. She wandered aimlessly around the empty halls of the IPRE, feeling more and more frantic as she walked. She was buzzing, humming with tension that felt like it was going to burst out of her skin at any moment.

“Taako, what are you _doing_?” She still couldn’t feel him, they were still severed, but whatever this was, it could only be a reaction to whatever was happening on the Astral Plane.

Lup wasn’t sure how she ended up outside of Barry’s dorm, or what possessed her to knock like it wasn’t ass o’clock in the morning, but suddenly she was face-to-face with a very rumpled, blearily blinking Barold J. Bluejeans.

Shit, he was cute. Lup shook her head, forcing that thought away as guilt added to the tangle of ugly emotions doing the fantasy marimba inside of her. Her brother could be in danger—could be _hurt_—and here she was getting sidetracked by a sleepy human.

“Lup?” Barry prompted when Lup didn’t say anything. His voice was even gruffer than usual and he squinted to be able to see her without his glasses. “Are you okay?”

“Something’s wrong,” Lup choked out, feeling as thought she’d swallowed a beehive. “Something’s wrong with my brother, I can feel it.” She tapped her useless, empty chest. “I have to do something. I can’t just sit here and wait around anymore.” To her horror, tears burned in the corners of her eyes and she scrubbed at them with the back of her hand.

“Um, okay,” Barry said. “The ship—”

“The ship isn’t _fast enough_,” Lup shouted, her voice shredding through several octaves. “He’s hurting now, right now, and I can’t fucking get to him!” Her fingertips lit and Lup had to clench her fists to douse them again.

“Don’t burn me,” Barry warned before pulling Lup into a crushing hug. Her instinct was to pull away, but _fuck_ it felt good to be held. She rested her head on his shoulder, bending her neck and letting his sturdy human body take her weight for a little while.

“Thanks,” Lup said after a bit, pushing him away and looking at her feet. “Shit, sorry. I’m gonna—I mean, I’ll let you go back to sleep. Erm. Bye.”

Lup turned away and Barry’s door clicked shut behind her. She wasn’t going to be able to rest tonight but she shouldn’t have woken Barry up just to shout at him and cry on his shoulder.

Her ears twitched as the door swung open again and footsteps trotted back up to her.

“What are you doing?” Lup asked.

Barry repositioned his glasses on his nose. He was still wearing his IPRE-branded T-shirt and PJ pants. “The ship is too slow, fine,” Barry said, running his hand through his mousy brown hair. “So, we’re going to the library to find something faster.” A pause. “But let’s get some coffee first.”

* * *

Taako woke up. Which, honestly, was a pretty nice surprise, considering the shape he’d been in when he collapsed. Besides, dying in the Astral Plane was so ironic that there had to be some kind of a rule against it. Or, what Taako had always suspected was true and he was just too damn pretty to die.

“Sir?” asked the small voice of Angus McDonald. Taako blinked, his vision clearing somewhat. He still couldn’t see out of his left eye. “Sir, you’re awake!” The fancy boy’s face was drawn and pale and his obvious relief made Taako’s stomach hurt. “Oh, thank Istus,” Angus said. Tears shone in his eyes and his bottom lip trembled. “I thought—I thought you w-were going to d-die.”

Taako lifted his arm to boop Angus’s nose and winced as the movement pulled at something. Fuck, ow, that _hurt_. His whole body hurt, like skin and bone had been reduced to just one massive bruise. “No tears, Ango-tango,” Taako mumbled. “I’m not going anywhere.”

"Promise?” Angus asked, inching closer.

“Promise,” Taako said woozily, even though it was a lie. He wasn’t staying here, not on his life. Come hell or high water, he was getting out of the Astral Plane, but he was willing to lie through his teeth to keep Angus from crying. “Now you run along because you look as bad as I feel. I’m not going to die in my sleep.”

“I think I’ll stay here, thanks,” Angus said softly.

Taako didn’t even have the energy to shrug before he fell asleep again.

Someone was always there when he woke up. Taako was in and out for a while, absorbing snippets of information whenever he regained consciousness. He was posted up in the enormous solar, propped up on a squashy couch by approximately a million pillows because it was the closest room to the front door, and they couldn’t risk moving him upstairs to his bedroom. Merle hadn’t been able to heal him with magic, but mundane supplies had appeared out of the ether and between Merle and Magnus, they’d patched him up alright. Apparently it had been pretty dicey for a bit, but as far as anyone could tell he wasn’t going to bite it anytime soon.

Like he said: too pretty to die.

Angus was a near-constant presence in the solar. He chatted about this and that, and sometimes read out of his Caleb Cleveland books, no matter how much Taako begged him to stop. Merle mostly fussed, checking the bandages that wrapped around Taako’s wounded leg and that were pressed over the claw marks gouged into his face. They’d worried about infection for a while, but so far everything was healing clean.

Magnus had some healing of his own to do, at first. Apparently, the Reaper hadn’t approached the human getting in his way.

“Tossed me into the wall like it was nothing,” Magnus explained as he sat on the couch opposite Taako with a bandage wrapped around his head. Mild concussion. Merle was monitoring it, but he should be fine. “Hit my noggin pretty hard, but other than that I’m okay.”

Even once he was healed, Magnus seemed to spend most of his time on that couch, usually whittling.

“Explain,” Taako said one day as Magnus made yet another black wooden duck. Taako had been awake for most of the day and he was finally well enough to feel the itch of boredom. Small victories.

Magnus looked up curiously. “Explain what?”

“The ducks, dude. What’s up with all the ducks?”

“Oh.” Magnus looked at the half-made little creature. Its head was slowly emerging from the block of wood. “Julia always like ducks.”

_ Liked_, past tense. Taako didn’t know Magnus, didn’t know how he ended up here—though Death had said that everyone trapped here had come of their own free will—but suddenly he had a pretty good idea. Looks like Taako hadn’t been the only one who’d come to the castle looking for someone.

“You should teach Angus,” Taako said, because asking who Julia was would probably made Magnus cry and Taako couldn’t deal with any more human tears. “I’m sure he’d love to learn woodworking and you’d be doing me a favor. I can’t take any more of those detective books.” He explained when Magnus shot him a questioning—watery but questioning—look.

“Not sure you can keep being mean to him if you want me to teach him how to use a knife,” Magnus said.

Taako rolled his eyes. “Psh,” he said, flapping a hand. “After all this, I’m bulletproof. Let the little nerd try to stab me.”

Magnus grinned and they lapsed into comfortable silence.

“Thanks. For, uh. You know. Helping me,” Taako muttered under his breath.

“What was that?” Magnus cocked his head, putting a hand up to his ear. “Didn’t quite catch what you said.”

“Fuck off,” Taako grumped, throwing one of his pillows at Magnus’s head. “You heard me, asshole, I ain’t saying it again.”

“I’m glad you’re okay,” Magnus said after he’d stopped laughing. “Don’t know what changed the Reaper’s mind about killing your ass dead, but I’m glad he did.”

Taako wasn’t sure about that, but he just flipped Magnus off because he couldn’t deal with the idea that someone he barely knew was cared about him one way or another—cared enough bum-rush Death himself. It made his chest feel funny so Taako chose not to think about it.

There was a duck on the arm of Taako’s couch when he woke up, and if he put in into his pocket, well, Magnus wasn’t around to see him or be smug so that was okay.

“He keeps asking about you,” Angus said quietly one day, a week after Taako’s less than grand escape. He was so bored almost looked forward to the daily readings of those insufferable detective books. Besides, they were three books into the series at this point and if Caleb didn’t realize his feelings for Danny Dallas soon, Taako was going to write a strongly worded letter to the publisher.

“Who?” Taako asked, even though he knew.

“He won’t say so, but I know that he was worried sick.”

“He tried to kill me, Ango,” Taako said. Rescue or not, the Reaper had been pretty clear about wanting to reduce Taako into a bloody smear on the ground. “I know you guys are…I don’t know, _friends_, but you should stay away from him. He’s dangerous.”

“He saved me,” Angus said, so softly that Taako almost missed it.

“I know you think that—”

“I don’t think that,” Angus interrupted, so sharply that Taako turned his head to look at him. “I know I’m just a kid, but I’m not—I’m not stupid, Taako. I know what happened to me.”

Angus didn’t look at him, his little face scrunched up as he stared at the book in his hands.

“Okay, Angus,” Taako said after a minute. Angus looked up at him hopefully. “You’re a smart kid, you know I know that. Hell, almost smarter than yours truly. If you say he saved you then I believe you.” The Reaper had still tried to kill Taako, but he didn’t think it would be in his best interest to bring that up again.

“I thought you were just a humble idiot wizard, sir?” Angus asked. Cheeky little shit.

Taako reached out and tousled Angus’s hair. “I contain multitudes, little dude, don’t you sass me. Now get reading. If Caleb doesn’t confess his gay, gay love for Danny in this book I’m going to tear my hair out.”

Angus grinned, cracking open the book again. He put on his adorable reading aloud voice and Taako settled in, content to listen.

* * *

Taako knew that there was someone in the room with him even before he opened his eyes. He also knew that it was none of the living occupants of the castle because it was the middle of the fucking night and all of them knew better than to creep up on him when he was sleeping. Taako had night terrors and had damn near yanked Merle’s beard off of his face when he’d come to check on him one night.

“It’s rude to stare, you know,” Taako said, trying to play off of the fear that hammered in his chest like he was in the middle of the spell on the West Wing stairs again. All things considered, he wasn’t exactly comfortable being alone with Death, especially not in the middle of the night, when it could look like his body had just quit on him and he’d died in his sleep. “I know I’m the prettiest thing in here, but you don’t have to lurk.”

“I’m not lurking,” Death protested, coming out of the dark. Taako wasn’t sure how a skeletal figure in a hood could look uncomfortable, but the Reaper was doing a pretty good approximation.

“What do you want?” Taako asked severely. He was still scared shitless, but he also was not in the mood to deal with whatever _this_ was.

“He was in a train crash,” the Reaper said.

Taako blinked. “Come again?”

“Angus. He was riding on a train to attend his grandfather’s funeral when it derailed. Everyone on the train died. I took all of them.”

“Including Angus,” Taako said, still trying to catch up to this bizarre little story.

“No,” Death shook his head. “Angus isn’t dead. I…I broke the rules.”

“You stole him,” Taako finished. “You fucking asshole, why would you do that? He’s a kid! You saved him only for him to be trapped here with that fucking monster waiting outside for the rest of his life. H’herHe’s ten, man! What kind of life is that for a child?” Taako pushed himself up, getting angrier and angrier the longer he spoke. “What, were you lonely? Wanted someone around who you could con into thinking you were actually a good guy instead of a murderous dickhead—”

“Because he would’ve been alone!” Death roared, loud enough to stop Taako in his tracks. Taako’s breath hissed out of his lungs in a furious exhale. “His parents made a deal with the Raven Queen. If they failed, Angus’s life was forfeit. His grandfather raised him, tried to undo what they did, but he died before he could find a way out of the deal.” 

“What does that even mean?” Taako snapped back. He was so, so fucking tired of being scared of this joker. He was done, over it. “What kind of deal? And what do you mean, _forfeit_?”

“The Eternal Stockade,” the Reaper said solemnly. “He would’ve been trapped in the prison where evil souls go after they die. Stuck there with murderers and monsters like the ghost that make up Legion. Forever.”

Taako’s blood cooled, thinking of Angus in the place that the Reaper was describing. He was a kid—just a little kid. He didn’t deserve that. “So, what? There wasn’t a second option?”

“His only other chance would’ve been joining the Queen’s retinue,” Death explained. “Become a Reaper. Like me.”

Fuck. The only thing worse than being stuck here would be looking like fucking Skeletor all the time. A baby Reaper, shit. Angus, only skeletonized. A teeny tiny, very fancy Death.

“This was the third option. Magnus and Merle were already here and I…I just didn’t want Angus to be alone.” Death almost sounded desperate, like he needed Taako to understand why he’d done what he did. “It was wrong.”

"You’re damn right it was,” Taako said. Death flinched and Taako ran his hand down the uninjured side of his face. “But sometimes…sometimes there aren’t good or bad choices. There are just choices.” He paused. “You’re still an asshole. No matter what the kid says.”

“I know.” Then the Reaper was gone and even if Taako needed to sleep he didn’t think he would be able to. He had a _lot _to think about.

Death didn’t visit very often over the next few days but when he did, he was always alone. Probably because Merle hated his fucking guts and neither of them knew if Magnus’s forgiving nature would extend to getting thrown into a wall by the Grim fucking Reaper.

“If I die in the Astral Plane, does that open up some sort of wormhole that destroys everything here?” Taako asked when he felt the Reaper’s presence one night. Merle had moved him back into his bedroom a few days ago, once his leg was healed enough to hold his weight, but Taako had taken to spending his nights in the hallway. He didn’t know why the thought of spending any more time in bed made him uncomfortable, but for someone who had spent most of his life zealously pursuing creature comforts, he was doing his damndest to reject them now, for reasons he couldn’t understand.

“You’re not going to die here.” He sounded like he was sighing, which Taako didn’t think was fair.

Taako blinked, quirking an eyebrow, which only managed to pull at the claw marks on his face. Merle said that they could take off the bandage tomorrow and Taako wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Either way it would be nice to get his eye back. “You think? Because between your little tantrum and the chucklefucks outside, I’d say my life expectancy is low.”

“That was…regrettable.”

“Regrettable?” Taako repeated. “Fuck you, dude, I almost died. Not to mention that Legion decided to take a bite out of my ass and _not_ in the fun way.”

“I shouldn’t—I wasn’t—you shouldn’t have been in the West Wing.”

“And you shouldn’t have tried to turn me into a Taako-shaped grease spot,” Taako shot back.

“You broke the _one rule_ I have!”

“You tried to kill me, my guy. Not sure you can regain the moral high ground.” Taako’s moral compass may have been a roulette wheel whose true north was whatever was easy and benefitted him and Lup, but even he knew that murder trumped trespassing.

“I wouldn’t have killed you.” Death said awkwardly. “I overreacted. I was scared.”

“Scared of _what_?” Taako demanded. “You’re _Death_. What the fuck do you have to be scared of?” Apparently, that was the wrong question to ask because the Reaper vanished. “Oh, very mature,” Taako griped to the empty hallway.

He didn’t stay awake waiting for the Reaper to return; he knew that he was done for the night. Taako managed to meditate for a little while before slipping back into his room. He didn’t want the others to know how completely he was ignoring his orders for bedrest.

Taako wasn’t entirely sure what he expected the next day when Merle removed the bandage from his face, but he wasn’t expecting _this_.

“We match,” Magnus said helpfully, pointing to the scar over his own eye. Taako didn’t know why everyone had decided to crowd into his room for the big reveal, but it just added insult to injury.

"All things considered, it could be worse. If you weren’t an elf, it _would_ be much worse,” Merle said.

“It’s really not that noticeable, sir,” Angus added. “And you could’ve lost your eye—”

“Out,” Taako said softly, unable to tear his eyes off of his reflection in the glass. “Everyone _out_!”

Their collective scramble from his presence would’ve been funny in any other situation, but Taako couldn’t find any humor through the pit that had settled in his stomach.

It really wasn’t that bad. Given the way Merle had responded and how much it had fucking hurt, Taako would’ve expected much worse than three pale jagged lines running down the left side of his face. Taako wasn’t really bothered by the scars, not really. He was fuckin’ gorgeous, and honestly a battle-scarred elf was rare enough to make him interesting as well as beautiful. That wasn’t the issue.

He didn’t look like Lup anymore. No one could ever tell them apart aside from the way they dressed and wore their hair, but even then it was a bit of a shot in the dark. Everyone on the caravans just called for a twin and whoever was closest would show up. But now anyone would be able to differentiate between the two of them. Bad enough that he couldn’t feel Lup in his chest anymore, but now he couldn’t even see her when he looked in the mirror.

Hmmm, no. Fuck that. Taako cast Alter Self, smoothing out the scar and returning his face to its full beauty before meandering out into the hall where the others were pretending not to lurk. As if he would have a breakdown where any of them could hear.

“Sir, how did you—” Angus started, staring agape at Taako’s nearly unblemished face.

“When are you going to remember than I’m magic, Agnes?” Taako said breezily. “Besides, what kind of monster would I be if I deprived you sorry sons of bitches of all this beauty?”

“Taako—” Magnus said, reaching out a worried hand like he was going to place it on his shoulder.

“Drop it,” Taako said through a smile was too sharp to be genuine. Magnus’s hand stopped before he could make contact, dropping awkwardly to his side. Smarter than he looked.

“But—”

“Don’t make me burn a spell slot,” Taako warned cheerfully. “Because I’ll do it. I give no shits.”

“Well you shouldn’t be out of bed anyway,” Merle grumped at him. “You’re gonna ruin all my hard work. I can feel it.” 

“_Your_ hard work?” Magnus said, lightening the mood by force. “I helped, old man!”

“Yes, you were very helpful,” Merle rolled his eyes. “Listing all the ways you’ve hurt yourself while he bleeds out on the floor.”

“That was valuable information!”

Taako Blinked away, leaving them to argue because honestly, he didn’t think he could deal with it for much longer.

“Do you want company?” Taako didn’t know how the kid did it, but Angus was waiting for him around the corner when he reappeared from the Ethereal Plane.

“I think I need some Taako time, little man.” Taako said, his ears drooping somewhat.

Angus hedged, nibbling in his bottom lip. “Did I—I mean…did I do something wrong, sir? I just…um I feel like you haven’t been around as often. And I know you’re healing and I-I’m not trying to be selfish…”

_That’s because whenever I look at you, I remember that Death saved you from a train crash that should’ve killed you, and if you’d died, you would be like him or worse, _Taako thought as Angus rambled_. _He had been avoiding Angus, if only to avoid the churning feeling in his stomach that kicked up whenever he saw the kid’s face. Which wasn’t fair, but Taako didn’t _want_ that feeling. That feeling meant that he cared—that he was approaching caring about the kid, and that was unacceptable. Taako only cared about Lup. That was the cornerstone on which his worldview was founded. Him and Lup against the universe and fuck everyone else.

But this weird nerdy little kid had gotten under his skin somehow and Taako didn’t know how to deal with it. He didn’t want to deal with it. Because dealing with it would mean admitting how unbearably sad he was for Angus, sad and _furious_ he was at the parents who would willingly subject their child to this. Shit, and Taako had thought the elves were bad. And they were, but none of them had offered him up to the fucking Raven Queen as collateral for some stupid _deal_.

“—and I can’t help think that _I_ did something wrong and—”

“Relax, Ango,” Taako cut him off. “You didn’t do anything wrong.” He fished around in his pockets for a second before pulling out his old wand. He wasn’t sure why he was bothering, but anything to get the distressed look off of Angus’s face.

“What is this for?” Angus said, looking at the wand the same way he looked at his Caleb Cleveland books, like it was the most wonderful thing he’d ever seen.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, Angie, but you’ve gotta start pulling your weight,” Taako said firmly. “Merle’s magic was neutered, and my fabulous self is probably going to end up getting eaten, so _someone_ needs to be able to do magic around here.”

“You’re—you’re _giving _me this?”

“It’s not a gift,” Taako said, cutting him off before hugging could happen because he could sense a hug coming on and that just wouldn’t do. “It’s a responsibility. I’m tired of being the only useful one around and if you can do magic then I can foist all my responsibilities onto you. Score one for Taako. Three cheers for laziness.” Angus just looked at him with a mixture of shrewd understanding and awestruck wonder. “Well what are you waiting for?” Taako said imperiously. “Go hit the books, nerd wonder. I expect you to have mastered Prestidigitation by the end of the day.”

“I…I won’t let you down sir!” Angus said, clutching his wand tight. His free hand snaked around Taako’s wrist and gave it a little squeeze before he disappeared.

Well that was…something. Taako didn’t know what had possessed him to _give away_ his old wand, but hey, nothing to be done about it now. Plus, Angus wasn’t sad anymore, so win-win.

He sighed. Giving wands to kids and wanting his cellmates to be happy. When had this become his life?

Taako didn’t have much of a destination in mind but he couldn’t bear another day of just lounging around and waiting for his body to get his shit together. He hadn’t been walking for long when it became clear that Merle might have been onto something. Speedy elf healing or not, he’d been in rough shape and it had only been less than two weeks. He hadn’t gone very far when his hip started to hurt.

“You need to stay off of that leg.”

Death showing up in the middle of the day without any kind of warning was so startling that Taako spun on his heel and whipped him upside the head with the umbrastaff.

The Reaper’s head cracked to one side and Taako’s mouth dropped open. “I can _hit _you?” Taako gaped. He surged forward, shoving at the Reaper with both of his hands but he vanished before Taako could make contact. Taako stumbled and his hip locked under him. He threw out his hands to brae himself, but strong arms caught him before he could fall onto his face.

“Please sit down before you hurt yourself,” Death said, gently depositing Taako back on his feet.

“What the hell do you care?” Taako growled because he was feeling vulnerable and the Reaper was being nice to him and his stomach was doing weird, confusing flip-flops and fuck if he had the energy to parse any of that. Instead he chose snappish apathy. Easier that way.

“I care, Taako,” the Reaper said. He sounded exhausted all of a sudden, brought low by a massive invisible weight.

Taako didn’t answer, just glared with every bit of derision he could muster. What the fuck was he supposed to do with that?

“It’s sweet,” Death said after a few minutes of tense silence. Taako didn’t know why he hadn’t just left, but the Reaper stuck around, floating and gloomy in the gray daylight. “Teaching Angus to do magic.”

“You shouldn’t eavesdrop,” Taako said, repeating the words Death had said to him so long ago. “It’s rude.”

“He likes you,” Death continued, ignoring him. “I think it’s good for him, having you around.”

“Well la dee dah, aren’t we just a fun little family. Just call us the Fantasy Brady Bunch, only trapped in the Astral Plane with Death as our warden.”

“I’m not your warden,” Death said. Taako expected him to snap or yell, but he just sounded…so tired. “I know you don’t believe me, but I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. If I…if I knew a way to send you home I would.”

Against all odds, Taako believed him. He didn’t want to, but he did and fuck if that didn’t piss him off even more. How was he supposed to cope knowing that all of this was an _accident_? Knowing that they were all trapped and miserable without some sort of big bag to rage against, because from the looks of it, the Reaper was just as stuck as everyone else in this big stupid castle. Taako shook his head. He chose anger. “You know, from one liar to another, words don’t mean jack shit. Especially not from someone who’s too chickenshit to tell me their _name_.”

“Kravitz.”

“Gazuntite.”

Red eyes rolled. “That’s my name, you impossible—” He sighed. “Before all of this, I was known as Kravitz.”

Taako wanted to snap back at him. He wanted to throw the name back in the Reap—in _Kravitz’s_ face and try to make him hurt like Taako was hurting.

But he didn’t. He wasn’t sure why, but he swallowed the acid on his tongue and nodded. “That’s a goofy-ass name, my guy,” he said.

Kravitz laughed. “I’m glad you’re okay, Taako, I really am.”

He had a really nice laugh and this time Taako was the one who left without warning, Blinking around the corner before slinking away. Kravitz’s laugh echoed behind him and Taako’s stomach did something complicated.

Fuck, he was in trouble.


	7. Different Kinds of Magic

Angus was good at magic. Like, really good at magic. Taako had been joking about mastering Prestidigitation in one day, but he was…close. Insanely close. Sure, it was only a cantrip but for someone who had no exposure to magic—

Shit, Lup would love him.

“Ugh,” Angus groaned as the spell failed again. They’d only been at it for a couple of day and Angus had almost managed to put a mark on the parchment that Taako had provided for him. “I’m sorry, sir.”

Taako cocked his head, eyes half-lidded as he watched Angus work. The kid had insisted on studying more magical theory that Taako had ever seen in his life and it looked like he was attempting to build a fort out of textbooks. “Watcha sorry for, bud? Besides stealing my hat? Don’t think I forgot about that.”

Angus’s ears went pink. “I didn’t _steal_ it, sir, I just—”

“I’m goofing,” Taako said. “You keep it. Besides, my new one is cuter.” Taako had designed his new hat in an after-sunset blue with little stars dangling from its wide brim. “Use your words, Ango. What’s got your fancy boy tie in a knot?”

Angus blew out his cheeks with frustration. “I can’t get it to _work_. It’s just a cantrip. I understand the theory. I know what I want it to do and what it should do, but it just won’t _work_.”

Taako shifted into a sitting position, crossing his legs underneath him on Angus’s bed. “It’s only been a couple of days, little man.”

“I know that, but I’ve read the books and—”

“Two things,” Taako interrupted, holding up two fingers. “One: Books are only going to get you so far in this biz.”

“But isn’t that how you _learn_ magic? From books? I’ve read all this theory and—”

“Which leads me to two: You’re saying ‘I’ a lot, boychick. Magic isn’t just about you. It’s a two-way street. You can’t just yank it out of books by force; it’s a conversation.”

“But…but I’m the only one here,” Angus said, fiddling with the wand in his hands. “It’s just me.”

“Oh, you sweet, hyper-literal child,” Taako said, searching for another metaphor. For Taako, magic was a way to correct his dissatisfaction with his situation, with the world. A way to make things easy and beautiful. Transmutation. Magic was _fun_ for Lup. She didn’t want to change things, she wanted to _break _them, reduce them to their basic parts so they could be new again. Evocation. Taako didn’t know what magic was like for Angus.

“Talk to me about solving cases,” Taako said. “You’re the world’s greatest detective, right? Just go with me on this. Walk me through.”

Angus didn’t look convinced, but he started talking at Taako’s prompting. “I mean. You have to gather clues and follow leads and—sir, I don’t understand how this is relevant to doing magic.”

“Which is why you can’t do it and I can,” Taako said. “Clues and leads, cool. What happens next?”

“There’s always people to interview. Witnesses or suspects.”

“What happens if they don’t want to talk to you?”

“You, um, you gain their trust?” Angus said, sounding unsure.

“So, do that,” Taako said simply. “Magic is alive, Ango. It’s alive and it likes you. It likes you but it doesn’t trust you yet. You can try to force it with books and theory and that might work up to a point, but it’ll never love you if you do it that way.”

“How do you know?” Angus said, biting his lip. “That magic…is alive? How do you know if it likes you?”

“The same way you know that you’re a detective. The same way Caleb Cleveland knows when there’s a mystery afoot. You feel it.”

“But—”

“No buts,” Taako said. He waved the umbrastaff, whisking all of Angus’s theory books into a pocket dimension. “You’ve got a new case, smarty-pants. Angus McDonald and the Case of the Cantrip. Let me know when you solve it.”

He waved away Angus’s protests as he walked out the door. He thought about locking the bedroom from the outside and not letting Angus out until he could unlock the door on his on, but it was a little early for that. Another lesson, perhaps. 

“Trial by fire?”

Taako nearly jumped out of his skin. “Fuck, dude. Don’t _do _that.”

“Sorry,” Kravitz said, chuckling a little.

“I’ll put a bell on you, just watch me,” Taako warned.

“You do that.” Kravitz still sounded amused. “Interesting teaching method.”

“At least he has a teacher,” Taako said, too honest. Kravitz’s hood turned towards him and Taako wished the words unsaid.

“You’re self-taught? That’s…incredibly dangerous, especially for a wizard.”

Taako’s jaw tightened. Yeah, he knew exactly how dangerous it was. “I turned out alright,” he said brightly. He couldn’t say as much for the people of Glamor Springs, but—

Nope. Nope, nope, nopitty nope-nope. Taako was _not _thinking about that. He had put it out of his head for decades and he wasn’t going to break that streak now.

“I taught myself, too,” Kravitz said, taking Taako’s cues and changing the subject. “For the record.”

“Taught yourself what?” Taako asked. “Does being Death not come with a handbook or something? I always imagined a handbook in the pocket of your dramatic-ass robe.”

Kravitz shook his head. “Before.”

Taako didn’t have a chance to ask what that meant before Kravitz froze. “Your friends are looking for you. Mealtime.”

Well that was a weird non sequitur but Taako knew a dismissal when he heard one. “Speaking of, is there a kitchen in this joint or did RQ just assume that magic food will do? Because no offense to your boss, but Taako can do better.”

“You cook?”

“I’m the best of the best, baby.”

Kravitz made a discerning noise and disappeared as Merle and Magnus rounded the corner.

Merle nagged him about pulling his stitches and Magnus ate a verifiable mountain of roast chicken and Taako was…comfortable. It occurred to him that this was the longest he’d veer spent in one place since New Elfington. Being a nomad was a necessity that turned into a lifestyle and Taako wished for the itch under his skin that meant it was time to move on.

He should be burning the world down around him to get home, but after weeks of stagnation, of no progress, he was slowly getting used to imprisonment. He was a frog in a pot and every day here was a few more degrees of heat. Soon he would boil alive.

Cheerful.

“You okay, bud?” Magnus asked, nudging Taako with his elbow. “You haven’t touched your food.”

“I’m worried that you would see my hand and try to eat it along with the small poultry farm you just inhaled.” Magnus laughed and took an enormous bite out of a chicken leg just to spite him.

“Has anyone seen the kid?” Merle asked, which was out of character. Magnus could give Taako shit about being mean to Angus all he wanted, but Merle usually went out of his way to avoid him outright. Taako couldn’t say he blamed him. Angus could only be a reminder of the kids that Merle had left behind.

“Not today,” Magnus said.

“He’s— ” Taako started

“Sir!” Angus shouted, barreling into Magnus’s bedroom and sending several wooden ducks flying. It occurred to Taako that they never ate in Merle’s room. The old man probably had some freaky plant porn stashed in there, though, so maybe that was for the best. 

“Speak of the devil.”

“I did it!” Angus said, brandishing the parchment. It had a messy little signature scrawled across it. ‘Angus McDonald,’ it read in clumsy script. “I did it! I Prestidigitated!” He paused. “I don’t think that’s right.”

“Me either,” Taako said, grinning. “But hell yeah, little man! Gimme five!”

Angus slapped his palm against Taako’s before showing the paper to Magnus and Merle. “Look what I did!”

“Hey, cool!” Magnus said with his usual enthusiasm.

Merle didn’t say much, just nodded gruffly. “Good for you.” He ambled to his feet. “Gonna call it, boys. Congrats on the magic, Ango.” Merle ruffled Angus’s hair as he left and Angus looked after him anxiously.

“Should I have—”

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Taako assured him. “But how about we not rub magic in Merle’s face, aight?” Angus nodded, still looking worried. “So what happened?”

“It’s just like you said! I felt it and I just…I just asked it to help me, like I would talk to anyone else.”

“Wait, talked to who?” Magnus asked, raising an eyebrow.

“The magic!” Angus explained excitedly. “Like talking to a suspect who doesn’t trust you but wants to. You just have to show it what you want, and it worked!”

“I don’t get it,” Magnus declared after a second.

“That’s because you have all the magical ability of a lamp,” Taako said dismissively. Magnus just shrugged, unbothered. “Good going, kid. Tomorrow we start on some real spells.”

Angus was a natural, just like Taako knew he would be. Taako’s teaching style was a little abrupt, a little sink or swim, but the kid was blasting off cantrips in no time. He was still young and inexperienced, so he didn’t have magical stamina worth shit, but he’d be something special once he was trained up.

“I know about Goldcliff,” Angus said during one of their lessons.

“What about it, D’jango?” Taako said, not really listening. He was working on a spell of his own, something tricky that Angus would have to really work to untangle.

“I know what it’s really like there. I know about the banks and the battlewagons and all of it.”

Taako remembered his first fight with Kravitz all at once; he’d yelled at him for lying to Angus, way back before he gave two shits about anyone here, let alone the kid. “You do?” Angus nodded. “Then why ask?”

“Because it makes Kravitz feel better.” Taako wanted to be surprised that Angus knew the Reaper’s name, but what _didn’t_ he know at this point? “He blames himself for what happened to me and telling me about the world makes him happy. Like teaching me how to woodwork makes Magnus happy.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Taako asked softly.

“I just thought you should know,” Angus said, using Mage Hand to fiddle with his books. Just a few lessons ago that would’ve been impossible. He really was remarkable. “I thought teaching me magic would make you happy.”

“It does, Ango,” Taako assured him.

“But not like them.”

“You’re… Taako struggled with how to phrase this. “You’re not responsible for everyone else’s happiness. You can’t always be the vehicle of their salvation. You’re a person too.”

“I know,” Angus said, nodding so that the feather on his hat moved up and down. “But we’re a family. My grandpa taught me that you do what’s best for your family.”

“What makes you happy, Ango?” Taako asked suddenly. “And don’t give me some bullshit answer.”

“Sunshine,” Angus said after a long pause. Taako knew that the kid had considered lying and fuck, he wished he had. “Summer used to be my favorite thing in the world. There was a library in Rockport where my grandpa and I used to go, and there was a courtyard and we would read together under the sun and it was good. It was my favorite.”

Taako wanted to cry. He dug his long, pointed nails into his thigh. The pain was distracting. “You’ll see that library again,” he said before he could think it through. “I promise you. You’re not going to be stuck here forever.”

“But it’s not Kravitz’s—”

“I know it’s not his fault, kid, but it’s not yours either.” Taako didn’t know when, exactly, Kravitz had stopped being his enemy. Probably when he realized what a nice laugh he had. Fuck. “You shouldn’t be stuck here. None of us should be. I’m going to get out of here and when I do, you three chucklefucks are coming with me.”

Taako shouldn’t give Angus hope. He saw something spark in Angus’s eyes, something bright and wonderful and dangerous. Taako shouldn’t make promises he couldn’t keep, he shouldn’t make attachments that could slow him down, but he couldn’t bear the thought of Angus—Merle, Magnus—living and dying in the dark. They didn’t deserve it, none of them.

“Okay, sir.” Angus took a deep breath. “What will you do when you go home?”

“Introduce you to my sister,” Taako said immediately. “Don’t get excited, she’s meaner than I am.”

Angus’s face was alight, so happy that it made Taako want to cry all over again. “I…I can come with you?”

“Fuck yeah,” Taako replied. “You think I’m putting all this work into your magical education not to be able to brag? Besides, I recall that the whole point of teaching you magic was to make you do shit for me. How am I supposed to do that if you’re not around?” He tapped his knuckles against Angus’s forehead. “Use that big brain and think, why don’t you?”

“What about Merle and Magnus?” Angus asked excitedly. “Can they come too?”

_Lup, it seems I’ve adopted two humans and a dwarf,_ Taako thought before answering. “Well they’re big boys, they can do whatever they want, but we can invite them. How about that?”

Angus launched himself at Taako, so hard that it knocked the breath out of him. The hug went on for too long to be comfortable, but Taako just let it happen, wrapping his long arms around Angus’s little body.

“What about you?” Angus asked without breaking away.

“What about what?”

“What makes you happy?”

“Cooking with Lup,” Taako replied, because he was being mushy and honest in a way that would’ve made him feel twitchy and awful just a few months ago and was just a little uncomfortable now. “That’s my favorite thing in the world.”

Taako knew that Kravitz would be waiting for him when he left his room that night, because Kravitz was a lurker with a nose for drama.

“I’m starting to think that you have a crush,” Taako said without looking at him. He was still churning and confused after his lesson with Angus. Everything he’d said was the truth, but it wouldn’t have been before they met. What the hell was up with that?

Change was fucking annoying. No wonder elves chose to hole themselves up in their trees and mountains and stay away from creatures who would try to melt their icy hearts. Taako wasn’t built for this. This wasn’t character development he’d chosen; it was being forced out of him degree by excruciating degree.

“I don’t have—” Kravitz stammered. Taako snickered, sticking out his tongue. “Angus tells me that you’re leaving.”

Taako was going to have a talk with the by detective about not blabbing his big plan to Death. Not that Kravitz had been the bad guy for a minute—his occasional homicidal tendencies aside—which just added another layer of aggravation. Taako needed someone—_something_—to fight. First it had been his family who’d tried to separate him and Lup, then homelessness, then the whole goddamn world. But there wasn’t any fight to be had here, no one to push back against. It made him feel unmoored, like he was trying to walk on ice without skates.

“That’s the plan,” Taako said with forced nonchalance.

“You know that it’s impossible.”

“Says you.”

Kravitz sighed. “Taako—“

“You can come too, if you want.”

Kravitz froze, sucking in a breath, which was interesting. Taako didn’t think he needed to breathe, considering the whole ‘being dead’ thing. “What?”

“You’re just as miserable here as we are,” Taako said, voicing a theory he’d had for a little while. “You’re stuck too, aren’t you?”

“I—”

“Just something to think about, bonedaddy.”

“Don’t call me that,” Kravitz said, sounding like he was choking. Taako laughed outright this time before sobering again when Kravitz spoke. “It’s not possible to leave once you’re here.”

“And people on the Prime Material Plane would say that punching my way through to the Astral Plane is impossible,” Taako countered. “There’s always a way and in case you hadn’t noticed, I’m brilliant. I’m getting out and I’m taking them with me.” Taako turned to face Kravitz, unbothered by the skull peering back at him. Oh, how things had changed. “Are you going to try to stop me? Because we may have this little cops-and-criminals rapport going on, but I’ll fuckin’ kill you if you try to keep them.” Especially the kid. Taako didn’t think he needed to say that for it to be clear.

“I won’t try to stop you,” Kravitz promised. They walked in silence for a good long while, winding through the halls without destination until Kravitz stopped suddenly in front of a door that Taako had never noticed before.

“Where we at, my dude?”

“Somewhere for you to pass the time until your grand escape,” Kravitz said. It sounded like he was smiling as he pushed open the door.

It was a kitchen. The most spectacular professional kitchen that Taako had ever seen. Everything was brand new and the highest quality. Sparkling chrome countertops, high-end gas stoves, every toy he could never afford when he’d been a one-man operation or with the tiny space provided in the caravans. It was all there, everything he’d ever wanted.

“Where has _this_ been hiding?” Taako asked, running his fingertips over the gleaming counters.

“I made it,” Kravitz said. “This morning.”

Taako whirled on him. “You _what_?”

“I made it,” Kravitz repeated, like it was nothing.

“_Why_?”

Shoulders shrugged beneath the black robe. “You said you cooked. ‘Best of the best, you said.”

“Pretty sure I said, ‘best of the best, _babe_,’ if memory serves,” Taako said.

“Yes, you—uh. Yes, you did.”

Taako was fairly certain that those without skin couldn’t blush but Kravitz was getting pretty damn close. Challenge fucking accepted. “Come on, then,” he said, summoning an apron and tying his hair up in a bun. Kravitz just stood in the door, looking as confused as a skull could look. “You can’t just give me a kitchen and expect me not to use it. And given that there’s no kid to boss around, consider yourself my sous chef.”

“Isn’t cooking more of a…I don’t know, a solo act?”

“Spoken like someone who’s never cooked a goddamn thing. Grab an apron and a knife, and I‘m not really sure how germs adhere to bone but wash your hands in any case.”

Taako was a whirlwind in the kitchen and Kravitz was competent enough. He wasn’t chatty but Taako could talk enough for the two of them, keeping up a steady stream of chatter as they chopped and julienned, basted and sautéed and prepped until everything was perfect.

It was…fun. A surge of guilt took the air out of Taako’s lungs and he felt like he’d been punched in the stomach. It shouldn’t be fun. Newfound camaraderie or not, Taako couldn’t parse his desperate need to get home to Lup and this weird, patchwork _whatever _he’d found here. It felt like those two things couldn’t exist in the same space and yet they were both curdling inside him like he’d drunk a glass of milk and chased it with a shot of lemon juice.

“That’s it,” Taako said, all of the energy draining from his voice at once. He pointed the umbrastaff at the plate they’d prepared and magicked it out of existence.

“Didn’t you want to…eat it?”

“I think that’s enough for tonight,” Taako said softly, not bothering to hide how his ears drooped. He moved to slip past Kravitz to do the dishes—without magic, always—and a hand hooked around his wrist.

A hand that sure as shit didn’t feel like bone. Taako jerked away, sparks shooting up his arm at the contact. His eyes grew huge.

“Do you not like it?” Kravitz almost sounded insecure, yanking his hand back and holding it close to his chest. “I could—”

“It’s perfect,” Taako said. And that was the problem. “Thank you.” He hadn’t said that yet. It wasn’t something he said often. Or at all, until recently. “For this and for. You know. Legion.”

“I think I’m equally responsibly for that ugly incident.”

Taako almost wanted to ask about the sapphire disk, but he was already feeling icky enough without pissing Kravitz off by mentioning his treasure squirreled up in the West Wing. “You’re right,” he said instead. “I take it back, I ain’t thanking you for shit.”

This time when Taako moved, Kravitz didn’t try to stop him and _what_ did it say about him that Taako almost wished that he would, just to feel that thrill again?

Lup always said that he had shit taste but fuck if this wasn’t taking it a little far.

“Goodnight Taako,” Kravitz said gently.

Taako waited until Kravitz had faded away to reply, the words whisper-soft on his lips. “Goodnight Kravitz.”


	8. Another Glamor Springs

Without his permission and against his will, the kitchen became something of a central space for the occupants of the castle.

“I mean, where did it even come from?” Magnus asked from his position sitting on one of the counters. He kicked his heels against the cabinets, banging out a painful rhythm.

“Krav—the Reaper made it,” Taako said under his breath.

The kicking stopped. “Who did _what_ now?”

Merle pulled his head out of the fridge where he’d been rummaging for snacks, his good eye narrowing dangerously. Taako kept his own eyes on his knife as he minced vegetables.

“The Reaper made it.”

“He made you a kitchen,” Magnus said.

“He made _a_ kitchen,” Taako hedged. “After I mentioned that the quality of the food here could be improved.”

“So, you complained and instead of killing you, he made you a kitchen.”

“He didn’t _make _me—”

"What, are you two friends now?” Merle interrupted. His gaze made Taako’s skin itch.

“He damn near kills you and now he’s giving you stuff?”

Taako glared right back, his lip curling over his teeth. He didn’t love feeling cornered in his own kitchen, thankyouverymuch. And it _was_ his, no matter what these judgy assholes thought about it.

“Hey if that’s what it takes,” Magnus jumped in as the tensioned crackled. “So all you have to do to get your own room is annoy him into trying to kill you? I can do that.”

“Well I ain’t healing your ass when you do,” Merle said. “So don’t even think about askin.”

“But I could get a bigger bedroom.” Magnus said. He brightened. “Or a woodworking studio!” He got a dreamy look on his face. “Think of all the ducks I could make.”

Taako shook his head, still watching Merle out of the corner of his eye. “Or you could just ask him.”

“Yeah, just ask Death for presents like he’s Fantasy Santa Claus,” Merle growled. “First the kid walks around actin’ like the Reaper’s his friend and now you’re kissing his bony ass too. Great. Just great.”

“Well what do you want for Candlenights, little boy?” Taako asked, so sharply that Magnus winced.

“I wanna go home to see my fuckin’ kids,” Merle replied.

“You know, now that you mention it, ever since I got the kitchen, I don’t miss my sister anymore. Hooray, I can make forty-clove garlic chicken, now I’m forever content to be stuck here with you dipshits.”

“Fuck off,” Merle grumbled, walking out the door. “If you wanna be buddy-buddy with the Reaper, fine. But he ain’t our friend.” 

Merle came back the next day, no matter how Magnus fussed and worried that they’d driven him away forever. Taako didn’t share his concern. Merle was like him now: they’d both chosen solitude at first, but now they’d gotten attached, no matter how much they might wish otherwise.

“Alrighty, Chef Taako, when is this bad boy open for business?” Magnus asked one day as Taako messed around with ostrich eggs that had appeared in the fridge.

“Pretty sure it’s been open for a while now, Cro-Magnus Man,” Taako replied without looking up. “Don’t over-whisk those,” he said to Angus, who was beating the massive yolks within an inch of their eggy lives. Angus wore a little floppy chef’s toque in place of his usual fancy boy hat and Taako thought it was just fucking adorable.

“Yeah, but you never let us eat anything,” Magnus insisted. “You’re like a culinary tease, dude.”

He was right, but there was no way in hell Taako was going to tell them _why_, exactly, he wouldn’t let them sample anything he made. Taako didn’t think that his companions would appreciate knowing what had happened in Glamor Springs.

“Why, you got a request, my guy?” Taako dodged. Offering to make them food made him just as sick as the idea of telling them the truth but it was the option that wouldn’t end in Angus looking at him in horror and Magnus trying to kick his ass out of some misguided sense of retribution.

“There’s, um, there’s a stew that my wife used to make…” Magnus trailed off, his voice quiet like he thought Taako would throw the request back in his face. “I just miss it.”

Fuck him running, now he _really_ couldn’t say no.

“Sure,” Taako said, shrugging. “Do you know the recipe?”

Magnus nodded, looking so happy that Taako wanted to shake him.

_Stop _looking _at me like that_, he wanted to snap. _It’s just stew, _fuck. _Have some standards for j__oy, my gods. _

_You thought the chicken was innocuous, too_, hissed a voice in the back of his mind.

Taako shook his head. It was just stew. He could do stew. No one would die from some fucking _stew. _

Magnus’s memory of the recipe was patchy and unhelpful, but they reconstructed it as best they could. It wouldn’t be perfect, but it was as close as Taako could manage. The actual process took a few days because Magnus insisted that his wife never used a slow-cooker, so Taako didn’t either. Everything was meticulously prepared, checked and double-checked because Taako wasn’t going to allow another Sizzle It Up disaster. He would be better, this time. He would be perfect.

Cooking for the caravans never felt like this. Maybe because Taako and Lup usually rode with assholes that he didn’t give a shit about and Lup was always around to make sure he didn’t poison anyone. Taako wouldn’t have shed a tear if Maarvey or any of the Hammerheads got sick from his cooking but—

But nothing. He would be fine. _They _would be fine.

The dinner itself wasn’t that special. Taako wouldn’t allow it; fanfare felt like tempting fate and besides, it was _stew_. Anything more than wooden bowls and eating perched on countertops felt like overkill.

“This looks amazing, sir!” Angus said excitedly as Taako handed him a bowl.

“Of course it does.”

“Let’s see if you can put your money where your mouth is,” Merle said dubiously.

“I’ll put my foot up your ass, old man, you just watch me,” Taako replied but there was no venom in his voice.

“Thank you,” Magnus said softly when Taako ladled out his portion.

“It’s stew,” Taako said, waving a hand. “It’s not exactly croque monsieur.”

Magnus barked out a laugh. “Still.”

Taako watched as everyone sat on the gleaming countertops with their bowls in their laps, eying them anxiously. It felt like he’d ingested a nest of snakes and he knew he couldn’t be able to eat anything without getting sick.

“Um, before we start,” Magnus said, fiddling with his spoon, “I just wanted to say thank you. To Taako for making everything, but also to all of you. Julia—” His voice cracked and he swallowed hard. Taako looked away. “Julia would’ve loved you guys.”

Magnus’s eyes were too bright, but he was smiling. Angus reached out and squeezed his hand.

“No crying in the stew,” Taako ordered. “It’s salted to perfection and I’m not going to deal with y’all weeping in it and then complaining that it’s too salty.”

"Yeah, yeah, I’m done,” Magnus said, swiping at his eyes.

“Buncha saps,” Merle muttered before taking a huge, decisive bite. Taako watched him, his eyes darting between all of them as they began to eat. “Fuck me that’s good.”

Taako sniffed imperiously. “Duh. I’m Taako. Y’know? From T.V.?”

It was an old joke, one between him and Lup and Taako’s stomach swooped in a way that had nothing to do with watching the others eat. Taako chose to distract from his churning nerves, leading the conversation and going for laughs. It helped move the meal along, relieve the pressure.

They almost made it. They were _so_ close.

Magnus was in the middle of telling a story wherein he fought a fucking bear—and Taako would normally call bullshit, but if anyone would fight a bear it was Magnus fucking Burnsides—when Angus made a tiny choking noise. At first Taako thought that it was laughter before he watched Angus’s dark skin slowly pale, his eyes widening with panic.

“Need a little help there, bud?” Magnus asked, clapping Angus on the back to dislodge whatever was stuck in his throat.

It didn’t work. If anything, it only made it worse. Angus’s skin was tinging blue and he shot to his feet, clawing at his throat in the universal symbol for ‘I can’t fucking breathe.’

“_Do _something!” Magnus said to Taako, looking panicked. They were all standing now, all reaching for Angus in various states of panic.

"I don’t know how,” Taako said, his voice pitched high. He didn’t know any healing magic and even if he did, all of the spells flew out of his head at the sight of Angus choking, struggling to breathe and failing. Merle flocked to his side, forming a fist and shoving it under Angus’s breastbone, but it wasn’t working.

Angus was dying. He was dying and Taako—couldn’t—do—anything. This was Glamor Springs all over again and Taako cold feel dread clamp around his heart like a vice.

Except no. This wasn’t Glamor Springs, this was the Astral Plane and this was Angus. This was Angus and he was _fucking _Taako.

So Taako did what any panicked wizard would do to save the life of a kid he loved. He held the umbrastaff tight in his fist, pointed it at the ceiling, and stopped time. The recoil of the spell hit him like a hammer blow, but Taako didn’t have time to shake it off before he was running through the castle, shouting at the very top of his voice.

“Kravitz!” Taako hollered, stopping for a split second at the foot of the West Wing stairs before taking his chances. It was _Angus_. “You bony son of a bitch, I need you! _Kravitz_!”

It had barely occurred to Taako that maybe Kravitz had also been affected by the spell when the Reaper appeared in all his skeletal glory, snagging Taako’s wrist before he could take a step into the West Wing.

“What?” Kravitz demanded. “What happened?”

“Angus—” Taako managed. “Kitchen!” He barely got the words out when Kravitz ripped open the world and pulled them both into the dark, only to appear in the kitchen a second later.

Kravitz didn’t need any prompting, reading the situation in an instant. He plunged a bony hand through Angus’s skin and that’s when Taako lost control of his spell and time started up again.

“Hachi machi, _fuck_,” Taako swore as everything erupted into chaos. Magnus and Merle both sprang away from Angus, which, fair. Taako would be startled too if the Reaper appeared out of nowhere with his hand _inside_ the kid who was actively choking to death. Taako lunged, catching Angus before he could fall. Only a second later, Kravitz’s hand phased out of Angus’s neck.

“What did you do?” Merle demanded, advancing on the Reaper with a massive knife he’d take from a block on the counter. He was holding it wrong, but in that moment Taako just saw the knife and he pulled Angus close to his chest, hissing as his ears pressed flat against his head. Before any of them could move, Angus gasped, sucking in a massive, ragged breath.

Taako’s eyes burned and blurred, which was weird and annoying, but thank the gods. All of them, but especially RQ for whatever Reaper bullshit allowed Kravitz to dislodge whatever had gotten stuck in Angus’s throat.

“Sirs?” Angus rasped, looking between all of them. Kravitz’s bony hands hovered over his body for a moment before he nodded and vanished again.

"You okay, Ango?” Magnus asked.

Angus nodded, looking a little teary-eyed, but he was breathing. “I’m alright.” Taako was still holding him too tight, his fingernails digging in a little too hard to be comfortable. “I promise.”

Magnus swore colorfully, sliding to the floor with his back against a cabinet. “That was the most stressful three minutes of my life,” he declared.

“C’mere, kid,” Merle ordered, putting the knife down now that Kravitz was gone. “Lemme check you out.”

Taako helped Angus stand on his own, carefully depositing him into Merle’s care. “Lock up when you’re done, ‘kay fellas?” he said.

“What?” Magnus said, standing back up.

“Kitchen’s closed.”

Taako didn’t give any of them time to respond before striding out the door. He waited until he was out of sight to pick up speed until he was running full-tilt towards his bedroom. He’d barely locked the door behind him when his legs gave out.

“Fuck,” he said, banging the back of his head against the door. “_Fuck_!” Taako clenched his hands by his sides, unable to keep them from shaking. Between a ninth-level spell to _stop time_ and Angus nearly dying, he felt hollowed out, empty and wretched. His heart hammered against his ribs, pounding out a treacherous rhythm. He could’ve died. He could’ve died. He could’ve died. Your fault, your fault, your fault.

“Shut up,” Taako hissed, grinding his knuckles against his forehead. “Shut _up_.”

It didn’t help. Every time Taako closed his eyes, all he could see was the panic in Angus’s eyes, the delicate shade of purple he was turning. The crowd in Glamor Springs, dropping one by one because of negligence. Fuck, Taako had been so careful. He hadn’t used a drop of magic and he’d still managed to hurt someone.

_Fuck_.

Taako tried to stay awake—he knew that nightmares weren’t far behind—but the exhaustion from using so much magic hit him all at once and he wasn’t strong enough to cling to consciousness.

* * *

In Neverwinter, whispers traveled like shadows after sunset, slipping through cracks and darkening doorways. Stories spread of a monster in the Astral Plane, a skeletal creature that stole the living and held them in a state of living death, a purgatory of sorts. Anyone could be next, they whispered to each other behind their hands and behind closed doors.

But there was hope. A man named John—they remembered his name, but his face escaped them—said that there was a mission. A mission to the Astral Plane to kill the monster—kill Death itself—that would free the people of the Prime Material Plane from the tyranny they had only recently learned of, but which was spreading like a plague. Fear and paranoia were catching.

John promised salvation, a chance to fight back. The Institute was developing a ship that could travel between the planes to destroy the monster. All he needed was money—money and volunteers. Fighters, rogues, paladins, assassins, anyone willing to fight to free the people of their plane.

Under the guise of drumming up support for the IPRE, John was raising an army. Planting the seeds of fear, the kind of fear that drove otherwise sane people mad. Mad with the needs to protect themselves and their loved ones. Mad with terror.

Mad with hunger.

* * *

Taako stayed in his room for almost five days after his disastrous meal almost killed Angus. He couldn’t stomach any food and tried to avoid sleep and meditation as much as he could. His body was going to quit on him if he kept it up like this, but he couldn’t force himself to get up and move. He didn’t _want_ to.

He’d tried, that was the sad thing. He’d tried to do something nice, he’d fucking _tried,_ and it just went to shit like it always did. There was a reason why he didn’t get close to people, there was a reason he didn’t care. With the exception of Lup, Taako was a death sentence. In a crowd, bring on the adoration, but in person? Getting close to Taako was a one-way ticket to the Astral Plane.

So wasn’t it just fitting that he was already trapped here. Maybe this was for the best. Maybe getting stick in hell was how Istus had deigned to keep the world safe from him.

Worse, he couldn’t even sulk in peace. The others kept trying to coax him out of his bedroom, but Taako wouldn’t budge. He’d done the whole ‘giving a shit’ thing. It was better for everyone if he just stayed away until he found a way home. He’d still prop the door like he’d promised, but he was done with all of them. They were safer if he was in here, which was infuriating because he shouldn’t care if they were safe or not. He shouldn’t care, but fuck if he did anyway.

“Taako?” Angus called through the door. “Sir? I know you don’t want to talk to us but…I cast Mage Hand today. It was really cool. I, um. I wish you’d been there to see it. Magnus said it was awesome.”

He almost unlocked the door. Almost, but not quite. Taako couldn’t stop picturing Angus’s face as he choked. It was enough to keep the door closed.

But when you could phase through solid matter, apparently closed doors didn’t mean shit.

“Enough,” Kravitz said, appearing out of nothing in the middle of Taako’s bedroom. Taako only jumped a little, which he thought was admirable.

“Enough of what?” Taako asked, eyeing Kravitz from the reflection in his mirror. “I’m a little busy at the moment but stick around and I can give you a makeover too. I didn’t want to be the one to say it, but the black robes are a little passé.”

“What—” Kravitz started. “What are you _doing _in here?”

“You think it’s easy looking this fabulous?” Taako asked, transmuting his top from something long and flowy to a cropped spangly number that Lup would love. “Beauty takes work, babe.”

“You made Angus cry.”

Oh goodie, another reason to feel like utter shit.

“And?” Taako asked, arching a cruel brow.

Kravitz glowered, his red eyes glowing doubly bright. “Stop it. You’re not fooling anyone with that.”

“And you’re not fooling anyone with that jank-ass fake accent, but you don’t hear me complaining,” Taako snapped.

“You know about that?” Kravitz asked, the strangled Cockney monstrosity of an accident disappearing.

“Yeah, no shit. No one sounds like that.”

“Oh,” Kravitz said, some of the wind sucked out of his sails for a minute. “Well okay. The point stands.”

"Yeah, yeah, I’m a monster, what else is new?”

“No, you’re not a monster,” Kravitz replied testily. It was weird to hear him talk without the stupid accent and Taako absently tried to place it. Not Neverwinter, that was for damn sure. Not Goldcliff either. “You’re just scared.”

_That_ got Taako’s attention. “_Moi_?”

“Fantasy Jesus you’re infuriating, you know that?” Kravitz growled.

“Infuriating and scared, how well you know me,” Taako said coldly. “Question: are all Reapers so fucking sanctimonious or is it just you?”

“Comes with the territory,” Kravitz said. “What happened was an accident and you taking it out on everyone else isn’t fair. So, are you going to tell me why you’ve decided to break Angus’s heart or just continue to sulk like a petulant child?”

“Show me yours and I’ll show you mine,” Taako said, turning away from the mirror to stare him down. He didn’t think that skulls could look scandalized but Kravitz managed it. “I’m not the only one who spends his time sulking. You don’t want to be here either. Tell me why.”

He expected Kravitz to snarl or yell or tell him to go fuck himself, but instead he just nodded. “Okay. Follow me.

Taako was so surprised that he actually did as he was told, following Kravitz through the castle until they made it to the West Wing. A few days ago, Taako had been willing to charge up the stairs for the chance to save Angus, but now he hesitated.

“Yes?” Kravitz prompted when Taako stalled.

“I wanna tell you a story about the last time I was up there,” Taako said as coolly as he could. “You were there, right? And I was there and then you tried to kill me. Kill me dead. So I think you can understand my reluctance for a repeat performance.”

“There will be no repeat performances,” Kravitz promised, extending a bony, long-fingered hand. It was a challenge and a peace offering in one, and Taako was a coward but he was brave enough for this. He took Kravitz’s hand and let himself be led up the stairs.

“You remember this,” Kravitz said as they made their way into the final room down the long hallway. He gestured to the sapphire.

“Vividly,” Taako replied, peering closer. The blue disk looked even worse than before, the gray rot spread even further, and the surface of the gem looked warped somehow. Scaly, almost, like it was shale instead of sapphire. “Your weird rock doesn’t look great, dude.”

“And therein lies the problem,” Kravitz said. He whistled a four-note tune and the room shifted around them, returning to its former, non-destroyed glory.

Taako spun, watching the magic take hold all around them. “You’re a _bard_?” he asked, way louder than necessary.

“Used to be. Reapers don’t have a lot of use for that kind of magic but when I was alive, I wanted to be an orchestra conductor.”

“Then how’d you—” Taako gestured to tall, dark, ad skeletal in front of him— “end up like this?”

“The same way I ended up here,” Kravitz said, sighing. “I made a deal.”

Taako bit his lip, desperate to interrupt with more questions but he worried that Kravitz would clam up if he pushed.

“I was—I _am_—a good Reaper. I cleared more bounties for my Lady than anyone else in her retinue. I was the best and I knew it. I got cocky and bored. So when a pair of would-be necromancers summoned me to the Prime Material Plane, I didn’t reap them on sight like I should have. I let them think they could bind me, that they had a pet Reaper. I let them set the terms. I was arrogant and bored and people got hurt.” He paused, floating around the illusion of the intact room. “People died, and my Lady was…displeased. She made the deal stick and locked me in here until I could earn my way free.”

He picked up the sapphire, letting it float above his hand. “How much do you know about planar theory?”

Taako pointed to himself. “Humble idiot wizard.”

Kravitz nodded. “Certain gems are associated with the different plans,” he explained. “Sapphire coincides with the Astral Plane, so as the sapphire degrades, so too do my chances of ever getting out of here.”

Something about his story stuck in Taako’s mind, but he knew better than to question Kravitz as he bared his soul.

“What about us?” Taako asked after a minute. “How do we fit in?”

“I don’t know,” Kravitz replied. “My Lady allows you to cross over, but I don’t know why.”

“And we can’t leave either.”

“No. I don’t know if it’s part of the curse or something else, but you three—four, you four—are important somehow.” Kravitz gently put the sapphire back under the bell jar. “The gem is so degraded now. I don’t think there’s any chance for me anymore. But you—” He turned to Taako, as earnest as a skeleton could look. “You have to believe that I’m doing everything I can to find a way for you all to return to the Prime Material Plane. If nothing else, you have to know that. It’s over for me. I…I know that. I’ve come to terms with that. But I don’t—I can’t have you all doomed because of me.”

That was…a lot. Taako didn’t know what to say, turning over Kravitz’s story even as part of it scratched at him, making his ears twitch. It didn’t matter, Taako told himself.

“What are you doing?” Kravitz asked as Taako advanced with his arms open.

“I’m hugging you because that is the saddest shit I’ve ever heard.”

Kravitz was much sturdier than Taako thought a skeleton ought to be, but he didn’t try to take Taako’s head off. So he took it as a win.

“Sad?” Kravitz said. “I told you that I did this to myself…”

“A bard,” Taako cut him off. “Fuck, that’s so embarrassing.”

To Taako’s surprise, Kravitz’s chest moved as he laughed low in his throat and then arms pressed against his back as Kravitz _hugged him back_. It was cold and kind of weird and also nice. So, so nice.

Well, fuck.


	9. Stolen

“So I, um…” Taako said, finally breaking away. He paused, giving Kravitz a considering look. “You are one clammy customer, you know that?”

“I’m aware,” Kravitz replied.

“I guess you showed me yours,” Taako hedged.

“You don’t have to tell me,” Kravitz said immediately. “It wasn’t fair for me to demand that of you. Truthfully, I’ve wanted to tell someone about…all of this, for a long time. But I’m not going to make you—”

“I killed people,” Taako said in a rush, feeling bile rise in his throat. He knew what he did, obviously. He was there. He’d run with Lup and they’d been looking over their shoulders ever since, but he’d never, you know. Used the words.

It was so much worse than he could’ve ever imagined. The truth burned in his throat and on his tongue. He felt like he’d swallowed acid, like he’d been using it to brush his teeth for decades and was only now feeling the corrosive effects.

“Like…a whole bunch of people.” Forty-two, but Kravitz didn’t need to know that Taako knew that. He was still Taako. Aloof was still the name of the game. “Poisoned. By me. I still don’t know how or what I did, but I was doing a cooking demo and when the people ate the samples they died. Nothing I could do about it. One minute, a whole crowd was cheering my name and chowin’ down, the next they were just…gone.”

That wasn’t true. They didn’t die quick, any of them. Whatever Taako had done and for the long, long life of him he couldn’t figure it out no matter how much he’d tried to remember, it hadn’t been fast. It had been slow and agonizing and Taako hadn’t stayed around to watch, not after the first person collapsed. A little girl with a long brown braid with a bow on the end. Taako would never forget her face as long as he lived. She didn’t look like Angus, but now they were inextricably linked in his mind, the victims of his negligence.

Lup had stayed. Taako had run, turned tail and bolted, but Lup had stayed. Not to help—they both knew that it was too late for that, but she stayed until the end. She destroyed the evidence in the stagecoach, blew it to smithereens with a Fireball that should have immolated everything in sight, but left the bodies intact. Their loved ones deserved to have something to bury, she said when she met Taako as their rendezvous point after. She never judged him or blamed him or even asked, really, what had happened. Just cleaned up his mess, took his hand, and ran.

“Well this is fucking embarrassing,” Taako said, swiping at his eyes. He didn’t even know that he’d started crying. Emotional repression was a hell of a drug. “Glamor Springs, fifty-seven years ago. You know anything about that?”

"I don’t, I’m sorry,” Kravitz said and a cold hand slipped into Taako’s, squeezing him tight. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“I think you missed the part of the story where I poisoned a buncha folks,” Taako said as nonchalantly as he could manage, but he was still crying. Tears fell in silent streams, dampening his cheeks, but there were no hiccupping sobs, no embarrassing weeping. That was something, he supposed. “Y’know, if you’re right and we’re all important to your curse or whatever, maybe I’m here to show you that you’re not the only killer around here.”

“You’re not a killer, Taako. You made a mistake and people got hurt. It’s not your fault.”

He was wrong, so wrong, but it was so nice to hear that Taako didn’t correct him. He needed the lie, needed to believe that there was someone else to blame for his tragedy, but deep down he knew it wasn’t true. It was his fault and the black stain on his soul would follow him forever.

They just sat there for a while, holding hands like a couple of weirdos, and Taako would’ve stayed there for a long, long time, when they were very rudely interrupted.

“Sir?” came the voice of Angus McDonald, the world’s greatest detective. “Kravitz? Taako’s door is—oh.”

Taako and Kravitz sprang apart like they’d been caught doing something—which maybe they had—as Angus burst into the room, surveying them with a look on his face that started off surprised and ended in an enormous smile.

“Taako!” he said happily. “You’re out of your room.”

Taako turned to Kravitz, pressing a hand to his head. “All of that shit about staying out of the West Wing and you let boychik just waltz in here willy-nilly?”

Kravitz just shrugged, not even a little bit contrite. “He’s Angus.”

“I’m Angus,” Angus repeated. Taako reached out and ruffled his hair.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re exceptional, don’t rub it in.”

“Does this mean you’re not mad at me anymore?”

Aw, well that just wasn’t even a little bit fair. Taako scrubbed a hand down his face, all of a sudden very aware that there were probably tear-tracks streaking all the way down to his chin and there was no way Angus wouldn’t notice. “I was never mad at you, dummy.”

“But…I mean, I was the one who ruined dinner and—”

Taako surged forward, pulling Angus into a loose headlock and giving him a noogie. “You’re kinda stupid for a smart kid, you know that?”

Angus yelped, ducking out of Taako’s grip, his hands flying to his curls.

“It was never your fault, bud. Just stirred up some bad memories, is all.”

“Oh. Well I’m sorry—“

Taako held up a hand. “Apologize to me and I’m going to spell your fancy butt into next week,” he threatened cheerfully.

Angus nodded before smiling again. “I’m really, really glad you’re back.”

Things were different after that. Kravitz didn’t quite introduce himself to the others, but he was…around. A lot. In the kitchen with Taako, sitting in on magic lessons with Angus. He even made a woodworking studio for Magnus and then came with slow but steady invasion of wooden ducks on the castle. They were fucking everywhere, but they made Magnus so happy that even Taako didn’t complain. It was…nice. Weird, but nice.

“Dunno what you said to the boss, but thanks,” Magnus said when Takao visited him in the shop one afternoon.

“Didn’t say anything,” Taako deflected, which was actually true. Angus was the one who told Kravitz everything, not Taako. The only secrets Taako spilled were his own.

“Come on,” Magnus said. “We all know that you’re his favorite. I mean, besides Ango, but Ango is everyone’s favorite.”

“I’m not his favorite,” Taako disagreed, playing with a medium-sized block of wood. His woodworking skills were nonexistent, but he thought he could turn this into something cool with magic. Not a duck, for sure, but something. A flame maybe.

“Yeah, you are. Things changed since you got here and you’re smart enough to know that.”

“Humble idiot—” Taako started.

“Wizard, yeah I know,” Magnus said with a shrewd look. “You’re really not fooling anyone with that. It doesn’t matter. I’m…I mean, I’m not glad that any of us are here, but things are better with you.”

Taako wasn’t quite sure what to do with that so he just messed around with his wood block and damn near blew himself up. Cool.

The only piece that hadn’t slotted into place was in the form of Merle. He’d always been a little on the outskirts, but he just straight dipped whenever Kravitz came around and now he was avoiding everyone altogether.

“Don’t push him,” Kravitz advised when Taako complained about it.

“Why? You all pushed me when I was being moody and stupid. If I recall, you just showed up in my room, which is a major invasion of privacy by the way and I can’t believe I haven’t yelled at you for that yet.”

Kravitz laughed. “You’re a special case.” He paused. “Merle lost more than the rest of you. He hates me the most and I don’t blame him.”

Taako didn’t promise to leave it alone because that would be a lie and he very much intended to push this.

“You gonna keep hiding out here?” Taako asked, finding Merle in the black garden shortly after his conversation with Kravitz.

“That was the plan,” Merle said. “So if you could kindly fuck right off, I’d appreciate it.”

“Nah, I don’t think so,” Taako said, sitting on one of the benches and shooting sparks out of the umbrastaff when it became clear that Merle was determined to ignore him. Game on, old man. Merle might be a dad, but Taako was a twin and between the two of them, he’d bank on his ability to out-annoy anyone.

“What do you _want_?” Merle demanded after less time than Taako was prepared to spend. Weak sauce. 

“I want to go home,” Taako said. “More than anything. But I also know better than to choose to be miserable when there’s another option.”

“Says the guy who hid in his room for almost a week after Ango almost choked to death,” Merle shot back.

Taako ignored him. “Look, I know you don’t fuck with the Reaper, and that’s fine. You guys don’t have to be besties.”

“If all you came out here to do was defend your dead boyfriend, then you’ve done it. Bye bye now.”

Taako suddenly understood how _annoying_ it must be trying to talk to him when he was determined to be petulant because Merle’s attitude was making him reconsider what he’d come out here to do. Also, _boyfriend_? Really? He and Kravitz weren’t—whatever. It was juvenile thing to say and Taako would ignore it.

“I can’t get us home yet,” Taako said. “I’m working on it, but until then…” He handed Merle a small wooden ring that he’d had Magnus make the day before. Imbibing it with the right kind of spell without blowing himself up or triggering a massive drain of power that would immediately knock him on his ass was tricky, but between him and Angus’s endless supply of magical theory textbooks, they managed it. What was a few permanently burned spell slots between fellow prisoners in the Astral Plane?

“What’s this?” Merle asked, eying the ring like it might explode in Taako’s hand.

“Everyone else got a present. Thought you’d want one. Just call me Fantasy Santa,” he said with a wry smile. “Try it on, old man. If you don’t want it, fine. No hard feelings.”

Merle still looked dubious but he slipped the ring into a soulwood finger. It took him a minute, but his widened with understanding as he realized which spell Taako had woven into the ring.

“How did you—”

“It was easy,” Taako lied, waving a nonchalant hand. “Plus, Ango helped.”

It had actually been a bitch to do, imbibing the ring with an Enhance Ability that would allow Merle to use magic, but the look on his face was worth it. Lup would think he was crazy, using so much magic and spending so much time to make a grumpy old dwarf happy, but he also thought she might be a little bit proud of him.

“I can—” Merle waved his hand and a new shrub burst out of the ground. “How is that even possible? Without Pan…”

“Well far be it for me to claim godly status, though these good looks beg to differ,” Taako said, smirking. “It’s cheating, honestly. All the ring does is use my magic to…give yours a jump-start of sorts. It’s not a lot but it’s something. You won’t be able to do much, but I just thought that if I was cut off from my magic on top of everything else. Well. That would fucking suck.”

Merle looked at the ring and then back at Taako. “Yeah, it’s okay, I guess.”

“Cool. Try not to burn through all my spell slots at once, yeah? There’s a finite amount of power in that thing per day,” Taako said. He turned to go, waving behind him when Merle called out again.

“When’s the next dinner? You know…in case I decide to show. Can’t promise to stay if Death is gonna be there but, hell. I guess I’ll try.”

“I’ll have Ango come and get you at dinnertime,” Taako replied without looking back. Merle didn’t have to see the satisfied smile that crept over his face. His was…warm. Warm in a way he’d never really felt before.

_I’m different now, Lup,_ he thought to himself. _But…I think it’s a good kind of different._

Taako never brought it up again, but he saw Kravitz and Merle exchange a few words at dinner that night. Polite, surface-level stuff but it was something.

“Did he like the ring?” Angus asked in a whisper, helping Taako set the table.

“Why don’t you ask the new topiary in the garden?” Taako replied. “Hey, I bet you can get Merle to make it in the shape of you if you’re polite enough about.”

Angus laughed. “I don’t think I’d look very good as a hedge, sir.”

“You’re selling yourself short, Django. Those fancy boy clothes rendered in shrubbery? Why, that would be the cutest thing around.”

“Quit goofing,” Angus giggled before shooting a less than clandestine look back at Merle and Kravitz. “This is all because of you, you know. All of us together. We were just people before but now…now we’re a family.”

Taako wanted to protest. Instinct told him to snipe that he already had a family and she was waiting for him at home, but he couldn’t look at Angus without remembering what his own family had done to him: offered him up as collateral in some harebrained deal with the Raven Queen. Compared to that, Taako supposed that their weird, dysfunctional little unit was the closest thing to a family Angus had. So instead of snapping, Taako just tapped the top of Angus’s toque.

“Yeah, bud. I suppose we are.”

* * *

Something was up. Lup could fucking feel it. Something was going on and no matter what Barry said, she was not imagining things. She’d had this same feeling on the day of the disaster in Glamor Springs. Something hadn’t been right then, and it wasn’t right now.

The only problem was, she couldn’t figure out what. Barry was never around anymore, too busy working on the ship, which should be ready in days, if not hours. At first their trips to the library had been to find alternatives to the interplanar ship which still didn’t have a name because no one could decide what to call it, but during those hours of research, Barry actually found what they needed to get the ship off the ground.

Lup had found something too. A ritual. It was the scariest thing she’d ever seen, but it would grant Lup passage into the Astral Plane by combining her soul and her magical essence into one entity. She’d be a lich. Probably damned for eternity but honestly, she’d been willing to try anything at that point.

“You can’t,” Barry insisted when Lup brought the book with the incantation to him. His warm, round face had gone pale and he’d grabbed her hand. It was warm too, and a little sweaty, but Lup didn’t mind. “Lup, I’ve thought of this and I know I dabble in necromancy but becoming a lich…too much can go wrong. Most people can’t handle it. They go insane and their magic consumes them from the inside out. If you didn’t have a strong enough anchor, you’d just be…gone. Like you never existed.”

I_ don’t care_, Lup had wanted to scream at him. _I have an anchor; Taako is my anchor and what the fuck do I care if I’m around or not if he’s still trapped in that place._

“I’m the reason he’s there,” Lup said quietly. “I was the one who went to the Astral Plane.” She’d just been looking for a pocket dimension, someplace safe where they could rest, relax, hide if they needed it, but it had gone so, so wrong. They’d never had a home, not really, and Lup was just trying to make one for them. She was the reason Taako was trapped with the Reaper and she could deal with the possibility of going crazy if it meant getting him out. Besides, she already felt like she was going a little crazy, between missing Taako and whatever weird nonsense kept happening in her stomach every time she saw Barold J. Bluejeans smile. It was all so complicated. Fuck when had it gotten so complicated?

“I know, but look,” Barry had explained with a grin. He passed her a piece of parchment with a series of equations on it that Lup couldn’t begin to parse. “This is what we need. With this, the ship will be ready in days.” He took both her hands in his and Lup couldn’t look away from him, blazing and brilliant and so human that it made her heart ache. “We can do this. We can get him back. Just wait a little bit longer.”

Barry was true to his word. The ship was almost ready, but Lup kept the ritual anyway. She ripped it out of the book and pocketed it when no one was looking. She wanted to believe that Barry was right and that everything would go according to plan, but she couldn’t rid herself of the feeling that something horrible was going to happen. 

“That’s _enough_, John,” Lup heard Lucretia said when she poked her head into Lucretia’s office. Lup thought it would be nice to talk to someone who wasn’t so cheerfully determined. Barry was…Barry was Barry, but Lup liked Lucretia. She was calm and stoic and secretly funny, but she didn’t sound like any of those things now. “We’re a scientific and rescue expedition. What’s you’re proposing is—Lup?”

“‘Sup, Luce?” Lup said, trailing into the room and trying to make it seem like she hadn’t been eavesdropping which she totally had been.

“Good afternoon, Lup,” John said silkily. Lup’s ears twitched and her knuckles tightened around her borrowed wand. What the fuck was up with this dude and what had he said to Lucretia to make her look like that?

“Johnny boy, you wanna give us the room?” Lup asked, not polite enough by half but she’d practically been raised by wolves what the fuck did she care about manners, especially around this joker?

John’s benign smile tightened with effort and he nodded before turning back to Lucretia. “Think about what I said. Lup,” he said, tipping an imaginary cap as he passed her. Lup had to fight the instinct to bare her teeth.

“Gotta say, Luce, I do not like that guy,” Lup said as soon as John closed the door behind him. “What did he want?”

“Nothing,” Lucretia said quickly. Lup raised an eyebrow. “He’s got some…ideas on how we might best utilize the ship.”

“You mean besides rescuing my brother?” Lup asked sharply.

“I told him no,” Lucretia assured her. “Finding Taako is our first priority. We made you a promise and we’re going to keep it. John’s just…getting a little ahead of himself, is all.”

_A little ahead of himself, my ass,_ Lup thought. John wanted the ship for something, that was for damn certain, and she shuddered to think of what it was.

“I’m so sorry, did you need something?” Lucretia asked, running her fingers over her tight white curls.

“Nah, just coming to say hi,” Lup said. “Barry’s in the lab and I figured I shouldn’t bother him, considering it’s crunch time.” Besides, they didn’t need another explosion, not when they were so close to the launch. Lup and Barry had worked out how to incorporate evocation magic into the bond engine to facilitate thrust, which was nerd-speak for “blast magic make engine go,” but after that, she didn’t have much to contribute besides color commentary and even that was beginning to wane. Her nerves were fried and with every day that passed, she was less and less convinced that there would be anything to find in the Astral Plane.

Lup shook her head. Fuck that. Bond or no bond, she would know if Taako was dead. She would know. She _had_ to know. He was alive, she was sure of it.

“Ah, yes,” Lucretia said, and her smile was genuine. “You and Barry have been getting close over the last few months.”

Lup blushed so furiously that she was almost glad Taako wasn’t around to razz her for it. “Me? And Barry? I think you’ve got to get your eyes checked, Luce—”

“Whatever you say,” Lucretia said, still smiling. “But for the record, I’ve never seen him happier than when he’s with you. We were…we were missing something before you came along. We’d been working on this project for years, Lup. Years. And then you come along and it’s like you lit a fire under us. You’re a gift.”

Lup didn’t know about that. She was just trying to find her brother. She hadn’t meant to get…attached. She didn’t even know that she was capable of forming attachments like that, but the more she thought about it, the most she was certain that the people that she’d met at the Institute—Barry and Lucretia and even Davenport—were a part of her now.

She was going to have a lot of explaining to do when she reunited with Taako. It had always just been the two of them, but the thought of leaving the IPRE crew behind…

Lup would make it work. And first things first, she had to find Taako before he could mock her mercilessly for falling for a human and the single biggest nerd she’d ever known.

“Well that was a lot for me,” Lup said, backing away slowly. Lucretia laughed.

“Sorry. It’s true, though.” She glanced at her watch. “I have to go. I think we’re almost ready, so make sure you’re prepped and have your stone of farspeech on you. It’s almost time.”

Lup nodded, practically running out of Lucretia’s office. What a weird, weird interaction.

It didn’t take long for her to remember John and whatever proposal he’d made Lucretia. Whatever it was, it could jeopardize her chances of getting Taako back and fuck if Lup was going to stand around and let that happen. Her magic was shit for tracking and it wasn’t as if she had anything of John’s to use was the foci of the spell, but that didn’t matter. Magic or no, she was Lup. She could find one human.

It really didn’t take that long. Outside the walls of the IPRE, something was brewing. The feeling in Lup’s gut magnified a hundredfold, taking up the spot in her chest where Taako used to be and she just…let it guide her. It was risky and Barry would call it unscientific but Lup knew that if she followed that feeling it would lead her in the right direction.

It led her to a pub, a little hole in the wall called the Davy Lamp.

“Hey! You’re Taako—” started a dark elf from behind the bar when Lup walked in. “Wait…you’re not Taako, are you?”

“Close, babe,” Lup said, peering at the drow. Her face wasn’t familiar.

“Wow, you guys have got to be twins or something because you look fucking identical.”

“How do you know my brother?” Lup asked, momentarily sidetracked.

The dark elf brightened. “Saw him do an exhibition once. It was amazing! He’s the reason I got into cooking in the first place.” She stuck out a hand. “I’m Ren and this is my place.”

Lup didn’t shake. She wasn’t touchy like that. “Nice to meet you,” she said, surveying the crowd assembled inside the Davy Lamp. It was a motley bunch and most of them were some kind of suspicious, but Lup couldn’t figure out why she’d been led here. “D’you know if a dude name John came this way? Human, tall, real nondescript?”

“Oh yeah, he’s been here lots,” Ren said, her expression souring somewhat. “He’s been holding court almost every night in here for a month. Kinda skeeves me out, to be honest, but he brings a crowd and I can’t think of any legitimate reason to kick ‘em out, so…”

“If you see him, will you—” Lup started before Ren’s face closed off altogether and all the hairs raised on the back of her neck. “Hi John,” Lup said without turning around. “Your ears must’ve been burning.”

“Lup,” John said, smiling blandly. “You know, I really think we got off on the wrong foot.”

“How do you figure?”

“Well I get the sense that you don’t like me, is all,” John said. The other patrons of the bar were quieting and more and more Lup felt like she’d walked herself into a trap.

“Oh, nat twenty on perception, Johnny,” Lup said drily. “I definitely don’t like you.” 

John cocked his head, his expression unchanged in a way that made Lup’s skin crawl. “Now why’s that? I think we could be friends, you and I. We want the same thing, after all.”

“I want my brother back,” Lup snarled, her lip curling over her teeth. “I don’t give a flying fuck what you want.”

“And I can help you get him. You’re smart, Lup, and strong. I know what you’re capable of. Come with me to kill Death and I promise I’ll do everything I can to save your brother.”

Kill Death? Was he fucking nuts? There was no killing that monster—he was the Grim fucking Reaper. Lup didn’t even think he _could_ die.

“That’s gonna be a hard pass, you psycho son of a bitch,” Lup growled, twirling her wand in her hand as the other patrons in the bar began to rise from their seats. Oh, this was gonna get real ugly real fast.

John frowned. “How disappointing. You could’ve been part of something more, you know. Aren’t you…dissatisfied? Living with the Reaper’s scythe hanging over you every minute of every day? Can’t you imagine the freedom of a world without Death? Can’t you imagine what the people of this plane will be able to achieve?”

“I’m an elf,” Lup drawled. “My life’s plenty long already, thanks.” She pointed her wand at his chest. “And I’m starting to think that you should come with me, bud. Quietly.”

John just shook his head. “We could’ve been friends, you know. Oh well.” He nodded to a burly half-orc next to him. “Take her.”

“Nuh-uh.” Ren said, suddenly over the bar and by Lup’s side. “None a’that in here, you creep.” There was a rod in her hand that crackled with arcane energy a split second before an electrical bolt jolted from its tip and slammed into the half-orc’s chest. He went flying, unconscious before he could hit the ground.

And then it was chaos.

Lup lost track of all the spells she burned through, blasting as everyone who got within firing range. The dark elf Ren stood by her side as they were both backed further and further against the bar. There were too many for them and Lup knew it. She also knew when she was out of magic, when her firelit palms dulled to useless glowing embers and she barely had the chance to raise a hand to protect her face before something hard struck her from behind and then there was nothing.

She wasn’t sure how long she’d been out when she woke up, blood crusting in her hair and bile in her mouth as she lay face down on the floor of the Davy Lamp.

“Shit, are you alright?” Ren asked, her worried face far too close to Lup’s. 

“Fuck.”

“You gotta get to a healer,” Ren said anxiously. “I managed to get ‘em out of here—I called the local militia—but they still cracked you one good.”

“I have to go,” Lup said, struggling to her feet. Ren pushed her down and Lup snarled, shoving the dark elf’s hands away. “Don’t _touch_ me!”

“Hey, I’m just trying to help!”

“You want to help? Get me to the Institute,” Lup said desperately. “Please. Whatever that guy is up to, people are going to get hurt and I have to—I have to go! _Now_!”

To her surprise, Ren nodded. “Alright. But you ain’t going on your own.”

The Institute had been ransacked. Everyone was gone or unconscious. It looked like the place had been hit by an incoming army and maybe they had. Who the hell knew how many people John had amassed for his little mission to, what? Kill Death? The guy was nuts, totally and completely nuts.

And he’d stolen the ship. Lup nearly fell to her knees when she burst into the hangar to find it empty. The bodies of the guards lay scattered on the ground, unconscious or worse, and the massive bay where Barry and Lucretia and everyone had been working on the ship was just empty. It was gone. Her chance at finding her brother, gone. Just like that.

“Barry!” Lup cried, noticing the crumpled form of a human body a little ways off. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, _Barry_!”

He was bleeding and she couldn’t tell if he was breathing, oh dear Istus, please let him be breathing, let him be breathing, _please_.

“Lup?” Barry groaned. Tears of relief crowded in Lup’s eyes and she pressed her forehead against Barry’s even while one of her hands felt for a pulse. It was there, thready but undeniably there. There was a nasty cut on her forehead that was weeping blood and his face was bruised, but otherwise he seemed okay. “Fuck, Lup, what happened to you?”

“What happened to _you_?”

“John,” Barry said, sitting up slowly. He clutched his head. “John came out of nowhere with all of these people—people I’ve never seen before and they…They took the ship. They took Lucretia and they took the ship and I tried to stop them but—” He buried his head in his hands. “I’m so sorry Lup. This was the only way for you to get to Taako and—”

“No,” Lup interrupted, remembering all at once. “Not the only way.” She fished the incantation out of her pocket, slapping it down on the ground beside him. Determination and rage burned in her belly and if that wasn’t one hell of an anchor, Lup didn’t know what was. “I’m not letting him go, Barry. I’m going to find my brother and I’m going to kick John’s ass.” She took a deep breath through her nose before looking him in the eye. “It’s the season of the lich, baby.”


	10. Home

Taako was being stupid. He knew he was being stupid but he couldn't seem to get his heart under control or slow his rapid breathing.

It was just a dream. Taako hadn't even meant to fall asleep. Between his consistent casting of Alter Self and Merle's ring, he needed rest to renew his spell slots. Meditation would've been fine but before he knew it Taako was asleep. Not only asleep but dreaming.

Dreaming of Lup. Lup, who was wearing a bright red robe that was ripped and a little bloody. She looked terrible, pale and wan as she drew a massive sigil in chalk on the floor of what looked like an empty hangar.

"Lup?" Taako had called to her, but he was spectral in the dream and she didn't hear him.

"You don't have to do this Barry," Lup said to her companion, a portly human man in a red robe who looked just as rough as Lup. They both looked like they’d lost a fight with a tribe of bugbears, battered and bleeding from shallow cuts on their faces and arms.

"Yes, I do," the human said, tight-lipped and determined.

"He's my brother," Lup protested. "He's my anchor. I'll be fine. But you—”

"I have an anchor," Barry said quickly, looking hard at Lup before looking back down at the sigil. A blush crept up his neck and even in the dream, Taako felt a jumble of ugly emotions roil in his stomach, capped by pity for this poor lump of a human who'd gone and fallen in love with his sister.

"Okay, "Lup said, nodding,

"And I'm sorry, y 'all are doing what again?" asked a dark elf that Taako hadn't even noticed until now.

"Dying," Lup said, twirling a wand Taako had never seen before. The human paled gripping his own wand tight in his fist. Even in his spectral form Taako could feel the arcane energy rip through the air as they cast on one sigil, redrawing it in strokes of black fire.

"Cool,” the dark elf said, eying the burning sigil nervously. “Y’all seem very calm about that, but that's fine, I guess.

"Y’know," Barry said with a tight smile. "My mom always said that studying necromancy was going to get me killed."

"You don't have to do this," Lup said.

"No, I don't." Lup sucked in a breath before the human took her hand and squeezed. "But I'm gonna."

Taako expected Lup to rip her hand away and snarl, or at the very least threaten him with maiming, but she just smiled.

_Oh come on, Lup_, Taeko thought, looking from his sister to one human and back again. _Really_?

Still hand-in-hand, Lup took a deep breath through her nose. "Here goes nothing."

They stepped into the glowing circle and as soon as they were inside the flames leaped ten feet high before shrinking down again.

"That's ominous as fuck," Lup muttered.

"Necromancy," Barry said, trying for a joke. "You get used to it."

He started chanting in a language Taako didn't know and Lup got a panicked look on her face. "Barry—”

Barry stopped his recitation and before he could say a word, Lup pulled him close, bent her neck, and kissed him. Taako looked away because even in a dream he didn't need to see that, thanks.

The human looked thunderstruck when they finally broke apart, gazing at Lup like she hung the stars in the sky.

"In case we die for real, "Lup said,

"You kissed me," Barry mumbled in an awed voice.

"Caught that, did you Barold?" Lup's lips curled into a smile. "There's more where that came from if we make it through this."

Taako was still bemoaning his sister's taste when the chanting started up again, this time in unison. It didn't go on for very long when Lup and Barry just dropped, like someone had cut their strings.

"Lup!" Taako shouted, rushing to the edge of one fiery sigil. Something, some kind of barrier, kept him out but he had barely reached for one umbrastaff when pain and magic ripped through his middle. It wasn't happening to him, he was sure of that somehow. Whatever this was, it was Lup’s, filtered through their connection and shot directly into his chest.

Taako thought that he would burst from one sudden, violent influx of arcane energy that flooded into him. It was too much, too powerful, and it latched onto something at thevery core of him and _burned_, fusing with his soul. It blazed through him like wild fire in dry brush and soon there would be nothing left, and he'd just be…gone.

And then he was fine. The pain was gone as quickly as it had come and the sudden loss hit him like a hammer blow. He fell hard on his knees as something floated above Lup’s body. It wore her tattered red robe, but that was the most solid part of the specter. It was a shadow in the shape of an elf, blurry at the edges. The only features Taako could see from beneath the hood were a pair of blazing eyes and a mouthful of sharp white teeth.

The specter hovered over Lup's body for a moment, nodding to a similar figure that floated over Barry.

"Holy shit," the drow breathed. "Is that…are y’all—?"

"It's us," a ghostly echo of Barry's rough human voice came from his specter. "You have to keep our bodies safe until we come back, okay?"

"But where are y'all goin'?"

Taako froze as the eyes beneath Lup's hood found his, so steady and sure that he almost believed that she could see him.

"Comin' for you, goofus, "Lup said, her voice unwavering. "Just hold on a little bit longer."

Then she dabbed and Taako woke up.

* * *

Taako burst out of his bedroom, walking with panicked steps. _It was just a dream_, he told himself over and over again even as something deep in his gut knew that it wasn’t. It was too real. That kind of clarity—the burn of magic he could still feel in his chest—couldn’t possibly be a dream. It was real. _Lup_ was real, which meant that whatever ritual she and her human had done, that was real too. She’d turned herself into …_whatever _the hell was that was. She’d ripped a hole in herself and filled it with magic and if what Taako had felt was even a fraction of what she’d gone through—

“Fuck,” Taako muttered, tightening his grip on the umbrastaff. “Lup, what did you _do_?”

He wished for the dream again. Something, _anything_, to get some sort of insight. Lup had seemed fine—as fine as possible as someone could be when they’d literally left their body in a heap on the ground and was tooling around in a red-robed spectral form—but Taako had no way of knowing how long that would last. She could be dead by now or worse, succumbed to the spell that had burned through her like she’d tried to light a match with the world’s most powerful Fireball.

Frantic energy hummed under his skin, the need to move, to cast, to do _something_ because Lup was on her own—one human man notwithstanding—and she was making a series of seriously questionable choices and he couldn’t help her. The vision was the strongest their connection had been in months and now that he was awake, his chest was empty again. So fucking empty. Taako had nearly forgotten how hollow he felt without his sense of his sister. The others here had numbed the ache, sanding down the ragged edges but it wasn’t enough. He still wasn’t whole so long as he was apart from Lup.

“Taako?” It was still a little strange to hear Kravitz talk without his horrible fake accent. He sounded younger, somehow, less guarded. “Taako, are you alright?”

Taako hadn’t even realized that he’d walked to the West Wing. “How old are you?” Fuck what a stupid question, but it was out of Taako’s mouth before he could stop it.

“I stopped counting,” Kravitz said, glowing red eyes narrowed with concern. “Taako, what happened? You look—”

My sister,” Taako said in a rush. Talking about it made it real and the anxiety in his blood started to turn into a full-blown panic. “Lup—she’s done something and she could be hurting or worse and _I—can’t—breathe_.”

Taako fell heavily against the wall, clutching at his chest like it would make any sort of difference now that his lungs had formally told him to go fuck himself.

She’d done it for _him_, that was the worst part. All this time getting cozy with Angus and Magnus and Merle and—and _Kravitz_—and Lup was out there, ripping herself to pieces with magic to try to get him back.

“Breathe,” Kravitz’s voice came to him like he was underwater, fuzzy and muffled. “Taako, I need you to breathe, okay?”

Taako would love to, but it was beyond his capabilities at this point. There was a vicious disconnect between his head and his higher motor functions. Fuck, this was stupid. He was _Taako_, he didn’t have panic attacks. Except clearly he did because the whining in his ears was getting apocalyptically loud and his vision was starting to tunnel.

Lup needed him. Lup needed him—she was _hurting_ and he was stuck here. He was stuck and she’d done something horrible to herself to try and save him. Which made it his fault. His fault, his fault, his fault.

“Taako!” Pressure on his chest and a _pull_, and Taako’s vision swam as oxygen was forced into his lungs. It took a minute for everything to even out again but when Taako came back to himself, he realized that he’d slid down the wall and was in a crumpled little heap on the ground. Kravitz hovered over him, bent close with one hand pressed hard against Taako’s chest.

“Um,” Taako said, swallowing hard at the sudden closeness. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Kravitz repeated, moving to step back a little but Taako grabbed his hand and held it fast. Kravitz made a startled noise but stayed, letting Taako hold onto him. “Are you okay?”

“Getting’ there,” Taako replied after a few moments. They still didn’t move, locked in their strange, charged little embrace. “Thanks.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“She’s hurt and it’s my fault,” Taako said, too raw to lie for once. “It’s all my fault. All of this.”

“No, it’s not,” Kravitz said steadily.

“Pretty sure it is, kemosabe,” Taako said. “Whatever she’s done, it’s to try to save me. Ergo, it’s all on ya boy.” He made a halfhearted gesture to himself.

“No,” Kravitz said, taking Taako’s face in his cool hands. “You can’t keep blaming yourself for everything.”

_You first, big guy_, Taako wanted to say, but Kravitz was so close to him and his stomach was doing something complicated and all of a sudden Taako was very curious about the mechanics of kissing someone with no lips.

"That’s the danger of having the world revolve around you,” Taako said weakly, looking away. “You’re stuck with the bad stuff too.”

“Taako—” Kravitz said, his voice so soft and gentle that Taako’s heart squeezed in his chest.

“I wanna go home,” he said because he was a coward. Kravitz let him go and immediately stepped away, like Taako knew he would. He missed the closeness as soon as it was gone.

Shit, sometimes he hated being right.

“I know,” Kravitz said, beginning to vanish into the dark.

“Wait,” Taako said, reaching for him again because he clearly couldn’t make up his gods-damned mind. “Don’t go. I-I don’t want to be alone.”

Sometimes it felt like avoiding loneliness was the only thing driving him. Like he spent his whole life just trying not to be alone.

“I’m not very good company,” Kravitz said quietly.

“I can be charming enough for the both of us,” Taako said, just a shade shy of desperate. It felt too much like begging but with the vision hovering behind his eyes and worry gnawing at his heart, he thought he would go insane in the dark.

“Okay,” Kravitz said softly, offering a hand to help him up.

They walked together for a long time, until the silence started to crawl under Taako’s skin and he started bugging again.

“Tell me a story,” Taako said, the words feeling as if they’d been wrenched out of him. “Tell me about being a bard.” It was the first thing he could think of.

“I thought you said it was embarrassing?” Kravitz asked.

“It is. So, so embarrassing, but I’m about to lose my entire shit so do me a favor and tell me what it’s like being part of the nerdiest magic class.”

“I wouldn’t say _nerdiest_—” Kravitz protested, sounding so offended that Taako almost laughed.

“You’re wrong, but continue,” Taako said. “What was your instrument? Was it a flute? Please tell me it was a flute.”

“It wasn’t a flute.”

“Lyre? Harp? Keys?” Taako’s eyes narrowed. “For shit’s sake, don’t say it was a guitar. Oh gods, it was, wasn’t it? I can just imagine you on the quad of the Neverwinter Conservatory.” He put on a bad imitation of Kravitz’s bad accent. “_Hi, I’m Kravitz and this is Fantasy Wonderwall_.”

“Do you think all bards are douches, or just me?”

Hearing Kravitz swear was so startling that Taako did laugh this time. “Just you, bud. I got douche vibes from you the minute I got here.”

“Was this before or after you stopped shitting yourself?”

Taako laughed again before sucking in a breath. Was Kravitz funny? Taako didn’t quite know what to do with this information, but he liked the image he was building in his head. Kravitz the Reaper. Kravitz the funny bard.

“Voice,” Kravitz said after a moment. “No instrument. I sing. Er—sang.”

“So that is a no on the song, then? Because I’ll accept an _a capella _rendition if that’s all you’ve got.”

Kravitz snorted, then whistled a soft tune that filled the hallway with dancing lights, starbursts in prismatic color. It was only a cantrip—Angus could probably learn it inside a day—but Taako was so enchanted by the lights that it took him a minute to realize that Kravitz was whistling Wonderwall.

For all of his teasing about being a bard, there was something, well, magical, about the spell. It was easy, natural and joyful, in a way that most magic—magic that was so often bought or bartered and wrenched out of books—just wasn’t.

Or maybe it was just Kravitz.

“Huh,” Taako said articulately when the song ended. “That was, um—”

“Not as impressive as casting Gate into the Astral Plane,” Kravitz said. The song still lingered in the air, glowing and warm. “But there’s always—” He trailed off, stopping mid-step. “Holy shit.”

“What?”

Kravitz whirled to face Taako, his eyes glowing doubly bright. “You’re brilliant, you know that?” He took both of Taako’s hands in his. “I could just kiss—” He stopped suddenly, pulling away.

“Hey, don’t leave me hangin’,” Taako blurted.

“I know how to get you home,” Kravitz whispered. “Taako. I can get you all home.”

Taako didn’t see Kravitz for nearly a week after that, but the arcane energy that poured out of the West Wing filled the castle like smoke from a wet flame.

“You’re the wizard,” Merle said, rattling around the kitchen with black tomatoes that he’d grown. Taako wasn’t entirely sure they were edible but Merle was proud of them in any case. “Any chance you can tell what in Pan’s bloody hooves he’s doing in there?”

“Not a fucking clue.” Kravitz wouldn’t tell him and Taako couldn’t think of anything he’d said that would somehow inspire a miraculous way home.

He hadn’t told the others either. They just thought that Kravitz was being strange, which wasn’t a stretch by any means. The last thing Taako wanted was to give them false hope. Merle would never forgive him and Taako didn’t think he could bear the look on Angus’s face if Kravitz didn’t succeed.

Right now, Taako had enough foolish hope for all four of them.

“What do you think he’s working on?” Angus asked during their lesson.

“Probably something spooky that our mortal minds dare not comprehend,” Taako teased. “Now focus up, boychik.” He tilted his head up to where Angus was standing on the top of the staircase.

“Are you, um, are you sure about this?” Angus asked, peering down. He was only twenty feet or so up, but it would still hurt like a sonofabitch if he fell. “This seems a little extreme.”

“Come on, Ango, we learn best by doing. Besides, Feather Fall is nothing. Easiest spell in the world.”

“And you won’t let me fall, right?”

“Don’t ask stupid questions. Now cast before I get Merle to push you.”

Angus worried his lip with his teeth, gripping his wand so tight in his hand that his knuckles turned white. “Okay. Okay, I’m going to do it.” But he didn’t. He hesitated and if Taako cast Gust to give him a little nudge, well, no harm no foul.

Angus yelped, losing his footing and falling fast. He flailed for two long seconds before catching himself only a few feet before landing on the ground with an ungraceful tumble.

“You pushed me!” he exclaimed, hopping to his feet and dusting off his fancy boy outfit.

“And you caught yourself,” Taako countered, satisfied with his teaching methods.

“I guess…I guess I did,” Angus said, smiling.

“Come on then,” Taako said, turning on his feel and striding towards the doors. Angus followed and Taako shooed him away. “Nu-uh. You are going to the roof. Let’s see what happens.”

They spent the rest of the afternoon like that, finding the highest places they could reach and just gently floating to the ground. From so high up, as they drifted lazily downward, Taako almost thought that the castle and its endless shades of gray were beautiful.

“It’s always going to be like this,” Taako said softly as they walked back to the castle. “When we get home. You and me, kid.”

“Yeah?” Angus asked, brightening.

“Yeah. Lup will teach you to blow shit up and Merle and Magnus can visit whenever they want.” They’d have to be stable for that. Stable and stationary, two things Taako had shied from his whole life.

“And Kravitz?” Angus asked.

Taako paused. “Kravitz is gonna do what wants, bud.” Or whatever the curse would allow. “But we’ll invite him.”

As if he’d spoken it into existence, Kravitz found Taako the next day.

“It’s ready,” he said, more excited than Taako had ever seen him. He was mostly visible, which was a far cry from the usual moody darkness that followed him everywhere. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of this before.”

“Think of _what _before?”

“I’m a Reaper and a bard,” Kravitz said as if that explained fuck all. “I’m _both_.”

“Cool. We love self-actualization, but I still don’t know how this helps us ever see color again.”

“It took some doing, but I think I made a spell that combines Teleport and Reanimate Dead.” Taako could only blink at that. Lup was the spell shaper in the family but even Taako knew how absolutely batshit crazy that was. “If I got the math right, it will take you home.”

“That sounds like a big if. What happens if you got it wrong?”

“You get discorporated,” Kravitz said, less enthused.

“Cool, cool, remind me not to go first then,” Taako said. He hadn’t been planning on going first anyway, but discorporation was the last of the reasons. “Actually, now that I think about it, I wanna get eyes on that spell.”

“Do you know anything about this kind of magic?” Kravitz asked.

“Nope but considering that my fine ass is on the line, Taako’s gonna double-check that math.”

It would work. It was cobbled together and it would hurt like hell but it would get them back to the Prime Material Plane. The spell was brilliant, actually. They weren’t dead, so they couldn’t technically be reanimated, but they were on the plane where dead things resided. With a strong enough Teleport thrown in the mix, the spell would spit them back out. Aiming their landing would be tricky but doable.

“This is…amazing,” Taako said, looking over everything again and again. “Krav, you’re a genius.”

“Not bad for a bard, right?” Kravitz said, sounding pleased with himself.

“Not bad for anyone. This is fucking _fantastic_. This…this will get us home.”

“I know,” Kravitz said, a little more somber now. “You should tell the others. I’ll be ready to cast in a few hours.”

Taako’s fingers drummed a beat against his artfully ripped black trousers. “What happens to you when we go?”

“I try to break the curse on my own and rest easy in the knowledge that I did one good thing.”

He didn’t think he was ever getting out, Taako realized with a start. This was Kravitz’s swan song, some kind of grand gesture.

“Kravitz—”

“Go tell the others. I’ll be ready soon.”

Taako told them in the kitchen.

“I’m sorry, what?” Magnus replied when Taako told them the good news. The words came out all in a rush and he couldn’t quite muster the proper enthusiasm.

“We’re going home,” Taako said again.

“You’re fucking with me,” Merle said. “Taako, I swear to Pan if you’re making this up—”

“I’m not. He made a spell that’ll get us home.”

“He did?” Merle asked, immediately suspicious. “Why the hell would the Reaper help us?”

“Because I asked him to,” Taako said, harsher than he meant to.

“So we can go?” Magnus asked. “Just like that?”

“Yeah, so go get your shit. Anything you want to bring home.”

“This is really it?” Angus asked quietly. “Everything we talked about? I’m going to meet Lup?”

I_f there was anything left to meet,_ Taako thought before he reigned those thoughts in tight. “This is really it. Now go get as many books as you can carry. We’re going home.”

They were going home. Taako would see Lup again. He’d have freedom and color. Magnus would be able to make ducks in any kind of wood he pleased, not just the black oak that grew here. Merle would reconnect with his god. Angus would get to _live. _

And Kravitz would remain, trapped in this dismal place without the members of their weird little family unit. He would be alone, and Taako would never see him again.

“You should be packing,” Kravitz said when Taako returned to the West Wing. He didn’t look up from his work, magic unspooling throughout the room like arcane thread.

“I travel light,” Taako said. He had his hat and the umbrastaff. He didn’t have anything else he wanted to bring with him. Nothing but a dwarf, two humans, and Death himself.

“And the others?”

“Packing,” Taako replied. “Come with us.”

He hadn’t meant to say it, but now that it was out in the open Taako realized how desperately he wanted Kravitz to say yes.

“The curse—”

“Fuck the curse,” Taako burst out. “_Fuck_ the curse. Just step through the portal with us.” _With me._

“It won’t let me.”

“Then we make it.”

“I really am dead, Taako,” Kravitz said gently. “I have been for a long, long time. I can’t reanimate myself.”

“Then I’ll reanimate you. I’ll study and I’ll learn the spell and I’ll bring you back. I’ll come back for you, I’ll—”

“No,” Kravitz said sharply, eyes aglow. “Taako, you can’t come back here. Not ever. Even if my Lady allows you to go, I’m part of her retinue. Cursed or not, I’ll never breathe again. You can’t bring me back and you can never return here. Promise me.”

“Krav—”

“I’ll miss you too,” Kravitz whispered. “But you have to promise you’ll never come back here. I won’t—I need to know that you won’t go putting yourself back in danger. I’ll…it’ll break my heart.”

That wasn’t playing fair and they both knew it. But Taako was a liar as well as a coward, so he agreed. He promised he could go and never come back, even as a part of his mind was already scheming. He wasn’t leaving Kravitz to languish in the dark alone. Taako would see him again, even if he had to drag Kravitz’s stubborn ass to the Prime Material Plane to do it.

The casting itself was complicated and finnicky and made Taako want to tear his hair out, but in a few hours, a new portal ripped through the main entryway of the castle, suspended in the air like a miniature black hole.

Kravitz had tried to insist that he could maintain it on his own, but Taako wouldn’t budge.

“Like I said,” Taako repeated, adding his strength to Kravitz’s. “My fine ass is on the line. I’m casting.” It was also an excuse to be the last one out. The portal would close as soon as Taako was through.

“That’s it?” Merle demanded, skidding down the stairs with a bag full of plants under his soulwood arm. Magnus and Angus were right behind him.

“That’s it,” Taako confirmed. Kravitz nodded, standing wordlessly by the portal.

“It’ll take me home?”

“Wherever you want to go.” Taako handed him a smooth stone. “Stone of farspeech, old man. Don’t forget to call or I’ll have the boy detective track your hippy-dippy ass down.”

“Trade you,” Merle said, taking the spelled ring off of his finger and giving it to Taako. I won’t need it where I’m going. And, er—” Merle cleared his throat, turning to Magnus and Angus. “Y’know, it wasn’t totally terrible knowing you guys. I wish we’d never met, but—”

“Oh, come here,” Magnus said, pulling Merle into a bone-brushing hug. “Ango, get in on this.”

“Ah, no, not the kid,” Merle protested but he didn’t push Angus away when he squeezed into their embrace.

“Taako?” Magnus tried.

Taako put his hands up. “Taako doesn’t hug, big guy.”

“Well,” Merle said, swiping at his nose. “If you’re ever on the coast, look me up.” He took a deep breath before pausing and facing Kravitz. “You’re not as big of a dick as you could be.”

Then he was gone.

“Where ya headed, Mags?” Taako asked as Magnus stepped up. His pack was stuffed to the brim and Taako was willing to bet that he was relocateing Duck Army to the land of the living. 

“Dunno,” Magnus said.

“You can stay with us!” Angus offered. “Me and Taako and Lup. We’ll get a big house and you can have a woodworking studio and I’ll learn magic and we can be together.”

“That…that sounds really nice, Ango,” Magnus said. “But I’ve got some things to settle.” Angus’s face fell and Magnus spoke again. “How about you guys get it all set up and I’ll meet you there when I’m done?”

“Off to do something heroic and stupid?” Taako asked.

Magnus’s mouth tightened. “Something like that.”

“Well if you need something blown to shit, I know someone. Not me, obviously, but I think you and Lup will be besties in no time.” Taako tossed Magnus a stone. “Use it.”

“I will.” Magnus bent down to look Angus in the eyes. “You’re the smartest kid I ever met, you know that? I’ll see you soon.” He stood. “You too, Taako.” 

“Just go, you big lug,” Taako said. Magnus clapped him on the back.

Kravitz stepped forward and said something to Magnus, so soft that Taako could barely make out the words. It sounded like: “Take care of them.”

“So long, Krav. See you knuckleheads soon.” And then he stepped through the portal and was gone.

“Us next?” Angus said, his eyes darting between Taako and the portal.

“Us next,” Taako replied. His stomach was in knots and it had nothing to do with potential discorporation.

Angus nodded, his eyes shiny and bright.

“Angus?” Kravitz started before Angus collided with him, throwing his arms around Kravitz’s middle.

“I’m going to miss you so much,” Angus sniffled. “Will I ever see you again?”

“I hope not,” Kravitz whispered. “You get to have a life now, Angus. You’re going to have friends and go to school and _live_. You’re going to be amazing.”

“But what about you?”

“I’ll be fine.”

“You’re lying.” Angus was crying for real now. “I love you, Kravitz.”

"I love you too.”

“Taako don’t do tearful goodbyes,” Taako said when they both turned to look at him. He screwed up the last of his courage and looked Kravitz in the eye. “But for the record: ditto to what the kid said.”

Kravitz’s eyes glowed and Taako managed a smile before he took Angus’s hand and brought them both home.


	11. Reunion

It hurt. Holy Istus did it hurt. Taako whished he’d conjured armor—something padded to wrap around Angus’s tiny body to at least attempt to protect him from the magic that tore at them from all sides. He pulled Angus tight against his chest, trying to shield him as best he could, terrified of what would happen if he let go.

All the while, Taako focused on Lup. Not a destination, not really, just Lup. Wherever she was. It was dangerous, not to aim at a physical location, but right now Taako had to believe that his will was enough to strongarm the spell.

_Please bring me to Lup. Bring me home to her_.

Taako didn’t have much use for gods, no matter how often they appeared in his swearing, but in that moment he prayed.

_RQ, _he thought to the ether, clutching Angus to his chest as he hurtled towards his sister. _Take care of Kravitz. Fucking take care of him until I get back, because I’m not leaving him there alone. _

Taako didn’t know how long they’d been falling when the spell spit then out. Taako curled his arms even tighter around Angus as they fell onto the hard ground before rolling several feet and skidding several feet to a painful stop.

“You okay, Ango?” Taako asked. His vision swam and it felt like his whole body was one giant bruise.

“No offense, sir, but I don’t ever want to do that again,” Angus said woozily. Taako poked at him a little, checking for anything broken but the kid was just a little bit battered. “Where…where_ are_ we?” Angus asked, looking around.

“Good question.” Taako had no idea where they were. He’d been aiming for Lup but somehow he’d landed them in a library, of all places. “Sure you weren’t aiming, nerd boy?”

“I wanted to find Lup,” Angus said, gnawing on his lip. “Did we get it wrong?”

“No idea, boychik, but—” Taako sucked in a breath as his sense of his sister reappeared all at once. It was like regrowing a vital organ in an instant and suddenly he could _breathe_ again.

“Taako?” Angus asked worriedly. “Sir, are you alright?”

Taako pressed his palm to his no-longer-hollow chest, looking around properly now that he was whole instead of a shell of himself. “Hey, look,” Taako said, gesturing to the world around them. “Color.”

Angus looked around all over again, his face glowing as he drank it all in. “Wow.” Even the library, with its muted tones, was so much more vibrant than anything they had in the Astral Plane. “Your hair is so blonde, sir!” Angus rummaged through his bag, pulling out a theory and gazing at the cover.

“What, no Caleb Cleveland?” Taako asked, his ears twitching with surprise.

“I thought…I thought these would be useful, you know? Did I get it wrong?”

Taako felt a burst of sadness for this kid, who prioritized being useful over his own happiness. “First rule of the Prime Material Plane, boychik: Caleb Cleveland trumps theory.” Taako tapped six of Angus’s books with the umbrastaff and transmuted the theory texts into Angus’s beloved Caleb Cleveland novels.

“These…these are mine!” Angus exclaimed, examining the books and finding the dog-eared pages and scribbles he’d added in the margins over the years.

“Yeah, no shit,” Taako said. “I’m amazing.”

“Look at the _covers_,” Angus said, running his hands over the brightly-colored books. “This is amazing.”

“What are you—” demanded a pale gnome woman before Taako could reply. “Who are you? How did you get in here? We’re on lockdown!”

“Let me explain,” Taako started before casting Prestidigitation. An illusion of a small flame appeared a few rows away.

The gnome woman yelped. “Don’t move!” she ordered, sprinting towards the illusion.

“Time to go?” Angus asked, scooping his books into his pack and springing up beside Taako.

“Yep.”

Taako had no idea where they were or where they were going, but he knew that Lup was close. He had a destination and it was the easiest thing in the world to follow the pull in his chest through the winding hallways. They were in a massive building that looked like a cross between a university and a research lab.

_Lup, what the fuck were you doing in here?_ Taako thought as they raced through the halls. They were mostly empty, though anyone they passed looked at Taako and Angus as if they’d appeared out of nowhere.

Which…accurate.

“Hey—what are you doing here?” demanded a massive human man in a white-and-silver uniform. He was standing in front of a door and pointed an axe at them as they approached.

“Angus—” Taako started, intending to tell Angus to hold his breath so Taako could Blink them past the guard, but a semi-transparent hand appeared out of the air, grabbing the guard by his collar and tossing him aside like a rag doll.

Taako turned to look at Angus, who was holding his wand like a pro. “Did I do okay?”

Taako grinned. “Kid, I fucking love you.”

Angus puffed out his chest, glowing, and it was easy enough to cast Knock and lock the door behind them.

They were in the hangar, the same one from Taako’s vision. Lup was here, she had to be.

And she was, just not the way Taako expected.

“Lup!” Her name ripped from his lips and Taako sprinted towards his sister’s limp body. He’d seen her drop, he knew she was inhabiting a spectral form, but seeing her on the ground, pale and lifeless, made Taako’s heart fall into his heels.

“Hey!” The drow from his vision stepped between Taako and Lup, a long silver rod raised towards him like a sword. “Back up.”

“Girlfriend,” Taako said through his teeth, pointing the umbrastaff at the dark elf’s head. He didn’t care if he recognized her, didn’t care that Lup had asked her to protect the bodies, right now she was just another obstacle between him and Lup. “Move your ass outta my way before I drop you.”

“Wait,” the drow said, her eyes fixed on Taako’s face. “You’re Taako. _The _Taako. You’re Lup’s brother?”

“That’s me, so move.” Taako bared his teeth, his ears flat against his head and the drow let him pass.

“They’re still alive,” she said as Taako blew past her and fell to his knees beside his sister. “Kinda.”

Taako knew that, he did, but seeing Lup like this made him want to throw up. Her skin was cold and clammy, her hair carelessly thrown over her face from when she’d fallen.

“Where are they?” Taako demanded. “The shadows. Where did they go?”

“How did you—” the drow asked, her eyes widening.

“Where are they?” Taako repeated, shouting now. He was close—so close—and he couldn’t bear being so close after all this time only to fall short.

“Goin’ to find you,” the drow said. “I dunno where, but they were chasin’ you and some guy named John.”

“Who the fuck is John?”

“Some human. He got a whole mob together and they stole a ship I think and he was always talkin’ about killing Death, but I think that was a metaphor.”

Taako’s blood cooled. Killing Death? So close to Lup journeying to the Astral Plane…it couldn’t be a coincidence.

Angus came to the same conclusion. “Kravitz,” he breathed. “They’re going to try to kill Kravitz?”

Lup sure as shit was. She still thought that Kravitz was a monster—why wouldn’t she? As far as she knew, Kravitz was a deranged Reaper who kidnapped people for fun.

“We missed her,” Taako said, numb now that the gravity of the situation hit him in full force. Lup was gone. Her body was here, which was enough to keep their connection intact, but she was still gone. After everything, he was still alone.

“She’ll come back,” the drow said, trying to help. She was right about that. Lup would come back when she saw that Taako wasn’t there. But without their connection telling her that he was alive, she’d burn the whole place to the ground. 

“Taako?” Angus asked, sounding young and scared because he was. “What are we going to do?”

They were out. They were _free._ Angus would get to live the life that had been stolen from him. But Lup was on her way to the Astral Plane and she’d do her best to rip Kravitz limb from bony limb, and then there was this John asshole to contend with. And yet— “I’m going back.”

Easier said than done. Taako didn’t have another diamond to burn and there wasn’t time for him to steal one, so casting Gate again wasn’t an option.

And then there was Angus.

“I’m coming with you,” Angus said.

“No you’re not.”

“Yes I am!”

Taako rounded on him, hands planted on his hips. “No, you’re not. I just got you out, Ango, and I’m not going to let you throw away your chance at a life. You’re staying put.”

“But you—”

“I’m over two hundred years old,” Taako cut him off. “I’ve lived. You haven’t. End of story.”

Angus’s mouth opened and closed and Taako thought he’d won for a moment before he said, “I love him too, you know.” Taako damn near swallowed his tongue and Angus pressed the advantage. “I’m just as kid and I know it’s different but he’s my family. He saved me and he’s the only family I had for a long time. Let me fight for him.”

“No,” Taako said again. “Angus, you can’t fight. You’ve barely mastered first level spells and I can’t do what I’ll need to do if I’m also worried about you.”

“But—”

“I need you to keep Lup safe,” Taako barreled on. “I don’t know this girl—”

The drow waved. “I’m Ren. Big fan.”

“Cool. I don’t know Ren from a hole in the wall. But I know you, and I have to know that someone is keeping Lup safe. I need you to do this for me.”

Angus looked like he was going to argue, his face screwed up and stubborn.

“Angus, _please_. I just got her back and if anything happens to her while my stupid ass goes _back_ to the Astral Plane, I’ll lose it. I will lose my gods-damned mind if anything happens to her.”

“Okay,” Angus said after a long pause. “Fine. But how are you getting back there anyway?”

“I have an idea.”

“No,” Merle said when he fucking _finally_ answered his stone of farspeech and Taako explained his plan. “I just got home, you think I’m going back to save the Reaper’s bony ass?”

“I’m not asking you to,” Taako said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I just need you to get me an audience with the Raven Queen.”

“The Raven—” Merle spluttered. “The Raven Queen is not my deity and I doubt she’ll appreciate being put on a fucking celestial conference call with you.”

“Just try,” Taako snapped. “My sister is back there and she’s going to try to kill Kravitz and there’s a mob on the way and someone’s going to get hurt or killed so just fucking _try_.”

“Fine,” Merle growled and Taako could _hear_ his eye-roll. “Oh, Pan-enly father. I humbly—”

“Is that Merle?” asked a voice Taako didn’t recognize. “My Merle. It’s been so long!”

“Holy shit,” Merle whispered. “Er, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t blaspheme, my Lord, but—”

“Don’t stress about it,” said the voice that could only be Pan. It had been Taako’s idea but he couldn’t believe that he’d actually gotten through.

“What can I do for you, my son?”

“I, um, I have to request an audience with the Raven Queen. Not for me. I am a devoted Panite, but, um—”

A booming laugh. “Relax, Merle I understand.” The voice drifted, as if shouting to someone in another room. “Yo! RQ!”

“What the hell,” Taako breathed and then there was a tearing sound and something ripped through the world right in front of him.

“Hi, Taako,” a woman said from the other side of the tear. A mask of a raven’s skull partially covered her face and inky-black dreadlocks braided with bits of bone spiraled around the mask. “I thought I’d hear from you again.”

And then Taako was talking to a goddess.

“I need to go back to the Astral Plane,” Taako said in a rush because, for all his apathy about divinity, talking to an actual goddess was a bit much for him. It had been a fucking long day and his nerves were shot.

“Is that so?” Black painted lips curled into a smile and Taako’s temper snapped.

“Yeah, that’s fucking so,” he snarled.

“Taako,” Angus said, tugging on his sleeve but Taako shrugged the kid off, taking a step towards the tear.

“No,” Taako growled. “I need to go back because Kravitz’s stupid bony ass is in danger and I need to make sure my sister doesn’t light him on fucking fire in the meantime.”

“And why would you want to go back after everything you did to get home?”

“You know damn well why,” Taako snapped, halfway sure he was going to get struck by lightning at any moment, but he was exhausted, pissed off, and on a roll. “He’s a sitting duck in there because _someone _locked him in and threw away the key and now I have to go back into hell to save him.”

“Kravitz’s decisions were his own.”

“He made a mistake!”

“And you’d give up your freedom for him? Again?”

“Yes,” Taako said without hesitation, He’d find a way back out again. Right now he needed to get to Lup and protect Kravitz. And exit strategy was the last thing on his mind.

“Please,” Angus added when the Raven Queen paused. “Please, he’s my family.”

“Well—”

“Is that Angus?” Another woman—goddess?—pushed into view. Her voice as bright and silver-white hair offset her onyx-black skin. “Oh, he’s just as sweet as you described, Ray.”

“Istus,” the Raven Queen said, the booming vibrato of her voice changing into an indulgent whine. “I’m on with Taako.”

“Taako?” the white-haired goddess repeated, peering close, her white eyes widening. “_The _Taako? Kravitz’s Taako?”

Taako’s stomach swooped at being called Kravitz’s anything, but he was more stunned that these two actual goddesses knew who he was.

“Hi, um…Istus? Gotta say, Taako’s a little overwhelmed but the point stands. Cha boy’s gotta get to the Deadlands.”

“Please, uh, your Ladyships. We’d really appreciate it if you would allow passage.” Angus said nervously, his voice stiff and formal.

“Oh, Ray, he’s so sweet. I see why you like them so much.”

“Sweetheart,” the Raven Queen said, removing her skull mask to reveal a starkly beautiful face. Her eyes were enormous, black and darkly-lined with kohl, and her skin was the same onyx-black as Istus’s, dotted with silver freckles in the shape of constellations. “I am _going _for something here and your _cooing—_”

“But they’re so cute and earnest,” Istus replied, linking her arm with the Raven Queen’s and dropped her head onto RQ’s shoulder.

“Fine,” RQ said indulgently, pressing a kiss to Istus’s cheek. “Both of you are going, then?”

“No,” Taako said, sure that Angus was going to contradict him.

“I’m staying here,” Angus said, pointing to Lup and Barry. “With them.”

“Yes. The liches.” RQ said, souring somewhat. “We’re going to have a chat about that when you get back.”

“But they’ll be safe in the meantime,” Istus promised. “All of them.”

“Thanks,” Taako said, because he had to, but impatience was biting at the back of his neck. This little divine interface was bizarre and paradigm-shifting, but time was wasting. Lup and the ship could already be at Kravitz’s front door.

“Actually, now that I think about it,” Istus mused. There was a shimmer and Angus and the bodies just vanished.

“Angus!” Taako shouted, damn near shitting himself. He wheeled around towards the rip, pointing the umbrastaff at the goddesses looking at him, which was stupid to the point of suicidal but Taako was _this close_ to losing his shit. Kravitz was in danger, Lup was dead-adjacent, and now Angus had just up and vanished. He was having a fucking _day. _

“Where is he?”

“I’m right here!” Angus said, his head popping up in between RQ and Istus. “I’m in the Celestial Plane. Lup and the other guy are here too, sir!”

“’Sir,’” Istus repeated. “He is too precious.”

“Ango, are you okay?” Taako asked, feeling a minute away from a full-blown breakdown.

“I’m okay, sir. Um ,I’m in the Celestial Plane, which is weird but I don’t think anyplace is safer than here.”

“Swear to me that they’ll be safe,” Taako demanded. “Swear!”

RQ smiled with teeth that were too sharp. “Oh us, no harm will come to them.”

A portal appeared beside him, glittering black and much more stable than anything Taako had ever cast. He took a deep breath, holding his hat tight to his head.

“Before you go,” RQ interjected. “He’s still cursed, Taako. He can’t leave with you unless it breaks. And it can break. You’ll have a chance, just one, but you can save him.”

“How?”

“I’m rooting for you,” she said without answering. “Both of you. Don’t let me down.” Then the portal moved of its own accord and Taako spun into the dark. Again.

And then he was back. He’d been home for less than half a day and now he was fucking back in this place. Taako looked around, trying to place his location among the dreary gray sameness.

“You couldn’t have put me in the castle?” Taako complained to the nothingness.

Above him, a raven circled around his head, squawking.

“Subtle,” Taako said, eyeing it and knowing full way that RQ was watching him through its eyes. “Okay, fine. Lead on, bird lady.”

The raven made a sound that almost sounded like a laugh, winging ahead of him in the dark. Taako didn’t hesitate. He didn’t want to be around when Legion inevitably came calling. He didn’t love their last interaction and he didn’t want to give the kinky bastard another bite at him.

“You comin’?” Taako asked at the gates of the castle. The raven stalled, flying in tight circles just outside the perimeter before it squawked again. “Guess not.”

He could still feel the raven’s eyes—the Raven Queen’s eyes—on him as he pushed the gates open. The garden was just as he remembered, everything grown in shades of gray and black, reaching up to the gray sky in dozens of twisting shapes. The massive topiary loomed over him and the stillness of the castle made him feel like a trespasser, even though he’d only left a few hours ago.

Then again, Taako didn’t know how much time had passed here while he’d been trying to get back in the Prime Material Plane. Time was bullshit here, passing faster or slower depending on how RQ was fucking feeling in the moment. It could’ve been years for Kravitz, or seconds. Taako didn’t even know if Lup was here yet, or if she was still in transit. Though how she was planning on breaking through was beyond him. She was shacking up with a necromancer and pretty much dead herself now, though. She’d figure it out.

Taako’s head snapped up as a massive blast of fire—the brightest thing in this plane for miles—burst from one of the upper windows of the castle.

Oh yeah. Lup was definitely here.

Another blast of fire and Taako decided that taking the stairs was a luxury he couldn’t afford. Lup would burn this whole place down when she didn’t find him and if Kravitz fought back—fuck, he needed to get up there, right now.

The problem with Teleport as a spell was not just how much magic it took to cast—so much fucking magic—but also that aiming was an absolute bitch. Taako was pretty sure the blast had come from the West Wing, but he couldn’t be sure, and if he didn’t have a solid enough destination in mind he could get stuck halfway. It was why the portal home had been so dangerous.

_ Please work_, he thought desperately before casting. The world shimmered around him before splitting open and spitting him back out at the top of the West Wing stairs.

Fucking close enough.

“Where is he?” a ghostly approximation of Lup’s voice shrieked from the end of the long hall. Despite the situation, despite the danger, Taako couldn’t help the way his heart jumped in his chest. Lup was here. She was _here_.

“Gone,” Kravitz replied and Lup screamed.

Lup was here and she was fucking pissed.

“You killed him!”

“No!” Kravitz insisted and Taako was already running. He could feel Lup’s rage burning hot in his own chest along with something else he’d never felt from her before. She was electrified, magic in a way neither of them had ever been. It felt like she’d been supercharged.

“Lup!” Taako shouted, skidding into the doorway. Lup and Barry’s backs were to him, backing Kravitz into a corner. His eyes widened as he saw Taako, red and blazing.

“Taako?”

“Don’t you say his name!” Lup screamed, and then she ignited. It wasn’t a spell—Taako couldn’t even see her holding a wand—it was _her_. Her hands burst into flame and she stretched them out towards Kravitz and Taako didn’t think.

He tackled her.

Lup shouted with surprise and Taako hissed as fire licked at his skin but he didn’t really hit anything. She wasn’t solid enough, but passing through her—oh gods, yuck—was enough to get her attention.

“Taako?” Lup said. Her hands doused immediately and she just stared, her eyes bright beneath the red robe. “Holy shit—Taako, is that really you?”

“It’s me, goofus,” Taako said, pinching a glowing ember out of his hat. “You look different, Lulu, did you do something new to your hair?” Taako smiled, glib and joking to the last, but he could fucking sing. She was here. Different, sure, and he didn’t love the circumstances, but they were together again. He was whole again.

“Holy shit,” Lup said, rushing towards him. “I can’t…I can’t hug you when I’m like this but holy shit. _Taako_.” He didn’t think she could cry either, but she sounded damn close. “How did you—he said you were gone, and I thought—”

“I was home,” Taako said. “I came back.”

“_You did what?”_ Kravitz and Lup demanded in unison. Taako winced. It sounded so much dumber when they said it out loud like that.

“Okay okay okay, can someone please explain to me what’s going on here?” Barry demanded, waving his spectral arms in the air. “Because I for one am confused as hell.”

“Taako, this is—”

“Barry, I know,” Taako said. “Necromancer boyfriend and while I _bemoan_ your taste—” The irony of that statement was not lost on him, giving Lup shit for falling for a human when Taako had a crush on the Grim fucking Reaper—“we all have to get the fuck out of here.” They all just sort of looked at him. It wasn’t easy to read incredulousness on three faces mostly obscured by shadow, but Taako managed. “I had a vision. It’s not important. What’s important is that we’re going to have company soon and it is time to blow this popsicle stand.”

“You’re right,” Lup said. Her hands lit again and she turned back to Kravitz. “I learned some new tricks since last time, asshole. Let’s see who gets locked up now.”

“Were you going to tell me your sister is a lich?” Kravitz asked, tense.

“It’s a new development,” Taako replied, neatly stepping between Lup and Kravitz. “Lulu, relax. He’s cool.”

“He’s—” Lup spluttered, looking at Taako like he’d lost his mind. “He’s _cool_? He stole you and locked me in a cage!”

“Not gonna lie, it could’ve been handled better, but he’s, um—Kravitz is….” Taako trailed off, uncomfortable in a way only Lup could make him.

Lup’s eyes grew enormous, hearing the words he wasn’t saying out loud. That he’d barely admitted to himself. “You’re shitting me.”

“Nope.”

“_Taako_.”

“We can discuss it later. Right now we have to go.”

“How?” Barry asked. “You’re not a lich, Taako. We can’t take you with us.”

Taako flapped a hand. “RQ’s got me.” He hoped. “I’ll be cool.”

Kravitz’s head snapped up and he crossed the room so fast that Lup snarled, embers igniting in her hair. “The Raven Queen?” he demanded, ignoring her show of force. “Taako what did you do?”

“Back off,” Lup growled at him.

“Lup, it’s cool,” Taako promised. “RQ and I are BBFs apparently. And Istus is watching Angus.”

“_Istus_?” Kravitz sounded like he was clenched tight enough to make the diamond Taako needed to cast Gate.

“Who the hell is Angus?” Lup asked.

“I may have adopted a kid,” Taako said. Lup made a baffled noise. “What? You adopted Barold!”

“Oh, fuck there’s two of them,” Barry said to himself, dropping his head into his hands.

“_Taako_,” Kravitz said urgently. “If you made a deal with my Lady—”

“I didn’t. I…prayed. She answered. We’re cool.”

“Taako.” Kravitz, Lup, and Barry said all at once.

Taako waved his hands, shutting them all up. This wasn’t the time. They had to move. They had to go before—

And earsplitting _crack_ and something blasted out of the black sky, a dark shape getting closer and closer.

“John,” Lup snarled, her eyes on the shape. It was a _ship_. A massive airship. Well, fuck.

“Okay, time to go,” Taako announced. He cupped his hands around his mouth. “RQ! Gonna need an exit about now!”

There was a hanging silence and for a moment Taako didn’t think RQ was going to come through before a new portal opened up next to the four of them.

“Thank you!” Taako called. “Come on gang, it’s time to fuckin’ bounce.”

“You know I can’t,” Kravitz said.

“Just try,” Taako pressed. RQ said that there would be a chance for him to be free. Maybe this was it.

“Does anyone else see the starship coming straight for us?” Lup said tensely.

“Those people want you dead, Krav. Dead_er_. So just fucking try. For me.”

“Guys—” Barry warned. “It’s getting closer.”

Kravitz sighed, reaching towards the portal. He didn’t get within an inch of passing through when something sparked and Kravitz staggered backwards a few feet.

“I told you,” he said, his voice small and resigned. The sapphire floated out of its bell jar, almost completely devoid of color now. It looked as dead as everything else in this place. “I can’t leave.”

Taako took his hand, spell-warm. “Then I stay too.”

“Taako!” Lup objected.

“I’m not leaving him here to die.”

“He’s _Death_,” Lup snapped. “I don’t think he can die.”

“I’m not leaving.”

Lup sighed, pressing her fingers to her ghostly temples. “Barry?”

“Figure a way to get him through the portal,” Barry said. “Lup?”

“Yeah?”

“Let’s go blow some shit up.”

Watching them kiss as liches was no less uncomfortable but at least it was brief.

“Fuck yes,” Lup said, grinning with a mouthful of too-sharp teeth. “Let’s see what this body can really do.”

Then they took off, fire streaming behind Lup like the tail of a comet.

“So that’s Lup?” Kravitz asked, watching them go.

“The one and only.”

A blink and Kravitz loomed over him, red eyes ablaze. “You broke your promise.”

“And?” Taako said, arching an unbothered eyebrow. “I’m a liar. I lied. And you asked me to promise something stupid, so that’s on you, big guy.”

“Taako—”

“Kravitz.” Taako him off, unyielding. “I came back. For you. So stop being dense.”

A massive boom shook the castle and fire bloomed in the sky. A maniacal laugh that could only be Lup’s rang through the air and then the liches were back.

“Lucretia, Dav, meet Taako,” Barry said, setting a windswept human woman on the ground.

“You blew up my ship!” cried the gnome in Lup’s hold, hitting the ground and whirling on Lup. “_You blew up my ship_.” Behind him, the burning starship hit the ground just outside the castle walls with a spectacular crash. Lup preened at the size of the explosion, the mushroom cloud reaching so high that Taako couldn’t see the top of it.

“Sorry, cap,” Lup said, not sorry at all. “We don’t need it. Apparently, we’ve got a hook up with a goddess.”

“Liches,” the white-haired woman said, flabbergasted. “You’ve _got_ to be kidding me.”

“To be fair, you and Dav were kidnapped and we didn’t have the portal then,” Barry said. “There weren’t a whole lot of options.”

“But _liches_?”

“Dunno what you’re complaining about, Luce, this is tight as fuck,” Lup said, twirling a few feet off of the ground.

“You shot down my ship!” Davenport said again, his mustache bristling.

“Enough!” Kravitz boomed, darkness collecting around him like it did when he as stressed. “Everyone who’s alive, get the fuck _out_.”

“That way,” Taako said, jerking his thumb at the portal.

Lucretia and Davenport both seemed to notice him at the same time. “You’re Taako?” Lucretia asked.

“From TV,” Taako said and Lup snorted. He winked at her. “And we can all get acquainted on our own plane.” He gestured to the portal. Lucretia’s eyes darted to Lup.

“It’s legit,” Lup said. “Taako’s tight with the Raven Queen.”

“Um. Okay then,” Lucretia said faintly. “This is going to make one hell of a journal entry.”

“We’re right behind you,” Barry said.

“Blew up my fuckin’ ship,” Davenport muttered, vanishing through the portal. Lucretia followed, still looking apprehensive even as she disappeared.

“Us next?” Barry asked.

“I’m staying until I find a way to get Kravitz out,” Taako said, his eyes on the smoldering ruins of the ship outside the gate. With that threat taken care of, he had time to figure out what the Raven Queen had meant about breaking Kravitz’s curse.

Taako couldn’t bring himself to ask Lup to go again but asking her to stay was too selfish even for him.

“So how do get bonedaddy free or whatever?” Lup asked before he could make up his mind. She caught his eye and the connection between them hummed. He didn’t have to ask. Of course he didn’t She was _Lup_. Fuck he’d missed her.

“It’s impossible,” Kravitz said.

Lup rolled her eyes. “You sure about this one, bro-bro? Seems like kinda a downer.”

Taako caught her eyes, giving a small smile. Lup stuck out her tongue at him.

“Gods, they’re always like this, aren’t they?” Barry muttered.

“I don’t think we’ve seen anything yet,” Kravitz replied under his breath and both of them exchanged shocked looks with each other. Evidently Taako and Lup’s nonsense brought out the best in people.

Taako snickered and then a cacophonous roar ripped through the silence as _something_—something enormous and amorphous and horrible, black shot through with shifting veins of opal—rose above the walls around the castle.

“Um, Taako,” Lup said, pointing. “I don’t know how to kill that.”

“Holy shit.”

“Legion,” Kravitz hissed. “They joined Legion. They’ll be able to make it through the wall.” His eyes found Taako’s. “They’ll be able to get through to the Prime Material Plane.”

“Well fuck.”

“How much time do you need?” Lup asked out of nowhere. “To get him out. How much time?”

“As much as you can give me.”

“Hurry,” Lup urged before taking Barry’s hand and launching into the air.

“Taako, you need to go,” Kravitz said, his eyes still on the monster looming over the wall.

“Not without you.” 

“_Taako_.”

Taako shoved Kravitz with both hands, hard enough to make him stumble. “Not without you, asshole!”

“I’m the one who made the deal with Angus’s parents.”

Taako sucked in a breath, feeling like the air was punched out of his lungs and Kravitz kept talking. “It was me. I let them gamble Angus’s life away because I was bored and selfish and I let them use me because I thought I was smarter than they were. I got an entire town killed. They all died because of me, including his parents. And then my Lady made it true and claimed Angus.”

“I know.” Taako said softly. “I mean. I guessed.” Something about Kravitz’s story had always been hinky, and it hadn’t taken much to put it all together. The reason he was stuck, how much he loved Angus, the guilt he carried around like a garment. Plus he kinda sucked at lying.

Also, Taako was a genius, which helped.

“You_ guessed_?” Kravitz repeated, thunderstruck. “You guessed and you stayed? You came back? I’m the reason Angus is here. I took his whole life, his future! How can you…how could you—”

Taako pressed a hand to Kravitz’s smooth cheek. “I’ve killed people too, Krav. Can’t really claim the moral high ground there.”

“But—”

“You were a dick and you made some shitty choices,” Taako said. “But you also tried to make it better. You saved Angus from that train and took him somewhere as safe as you could. You gave him Merle and Magnus and tried to help him rebuilt a family.”

“I can’t believe you knew.”

“You’re kinda a shit liar,” Taako said, pressing his forehead against Kravitz’s. “And Angus misses you like crazy, so how about you stop trying to scare me away and get your ass in gear.”

Another roar shook the castle at its foundations and Taako’s gaze flicked to the window to see Barry and Lup losing ground fast. They were blasting Legion with everything they had, but it just kept coming.

“I don’t think we have time,” Kravitz said.

“Not with that fuckin attitude you don’t,” said Magnus fucking Burnsides, emerging from the portal behind them. Merle appeared right beside him, holding a gleaming wrench like a club in one hand and a thick, dog-eared book in the other. 

“What?” he grumped when Taako gaped them both. “Apparently the Raven Queen and Pan are smoking buddies. He said I’d get to keep my magic this time.” He held up the book, whose title read _X-Treme Teen Bible_, like that made any sort of sense.

“Not gonna lie, being told that you guys needed backup by a raven was kinda weird,” Magnus said. “But hey, when your family needs you…” He shrugged, shifting a massive battle-axe onto his shoulder and looking between Taako and Kravitz. “Now who’s ass do we need to kick?”

Legion roared again and Taako pointed out the window, still shocked to see them back here. “That.” 

Magnus looked at Legion’s new form, observing critically. “Huh. That’s big.” 


	12. Character Development

An explosion rattled the castle again and Magnus and Merle’s attention was drawn to Barry and Lup.

“Who the fuck are they?” Merle demanded, thumbing at the two of them. Before Taako could reply, Legion swiped a massive fist, catching Barry and Lup in midair and sending them careening through the sky.

“Duck!” Magnus shouted, yanking Taako to the side as one of the liches crashed through the window.

“Taako!” Lup shot to Taako’s side, ripping Magnus away and throwing him aside hard enough to make him stumble.

“Let me guess?” Magnus said, looking between the two of them. “You’re the sister.”

“They’re cool,” Taako said before anything else could pop off. He couldn’t quite see Lup’s eyebrows but he could feel the incredulous energy radiating from her and it occurred to Taako that he’d acquired quite a collection of friends since the last time they saw each other. “Y’know how I adopted a kid? I also have a Merle and a Magnus.”

They both waved and Merle peered closer.

“Gotta say, I don’t really see the resemblance,” he said, tilting his head up at Lup. “You’re a little more…not on fire.”

“Lup!” Barry interrupted, bursting into the room.

“There’s two of them?” Magnus asked.

“Barold, Lulu, meet Magnus and Merle,” Taako said hurriedly. “Now that we’re all besties, can we please do something about _that_?” Taako threw out an arm to point at Legion, who roared as if punctuating his point. They all turned to Kravitz, looking for some kind of guidance from the person who’d been here the longest.

“Legion is made from the souls of those who escaped the Eternal Stockade,” he explained in a rush. “They’re trying to break into your plane and with that ship full of souls, they’re finally strong enough to do it.”

“Cool, sounds fucking awful,” Lup said. “A few follow ups: How do we kill it and most importantly, didn’t you have an accent last time I was here? I’m just realizing it now.”

“You have to destabilize its spectral form so that it can’t generate the interdimensional energy to rip through the fabric of the planes,” Kravitz said, ignoring her second question.

Lup shot Taako a look and he grinned as their thoughts aligned. _Guess we both found nerds, huh_?

“And that means _what_, exactly?” Merle asked.

“Hit it hard enough that it breaks,” Barry translated and Kravitz nodded his agreement.

“Well I think we need a new strategy because Barry and I didn’t make a dent.” 

“It wants Kravitz,” Taako mused, drawing a few alarmed looks.” So let’s give it what it wants.”

The plan was simple: Open the courtyard doors, put Krav where Legion could see him, and they kick the shit out of it. Easier said than done, but they didn’t have time to think of anything more elegant.

Magnus jumped in when Taako’s half-formed idea fell off, filling in the details of the plan and assigning everyone strategic locations to lay in wait. He pulled battle plans out of his ass like it was second nature—there was definitely a story there, but they didn’t have time to get into old war stories.

“I’ve got the door,” Taako volunteered before Magnus could give him an assignment.

Magnus nodded, understanding immediately. “Stay sharp. Keep each other safe.”

“Hey,” Lup said, catching Taako’s hand. “Don’t you go dying on me.”

“_Psh_,” Taako said, flipping his braid over one shoulder. “I’m too pretty to die.” He paused, giving her lich form a considering up-and-down. “And I’m officially the hot twin. No way am I giving that up by _dying_.”

Lup snorted, lighting herself like a torch. “Pretty sure I’m still the hot one, Ko-ko.”

Taako gagged at the pun, making Lup laugh again, “Get going, babe. I’ll see you on the flipside.”

Taako felt Lup’s fear, her determination, and overtop of it all, their combined joy at being reunited, and she took off into the air.

“Taako—” Kravitz said, materializing behind him.

“If you tell me to leave again, I will slap the shit out of you,” Taako said, turning around. “So don’t even start with me.”

“I was going to say thank you,” Kravitz said softly.

“Ugh, yuck, that’s worse,” Taako said, flapping a hand. “Let’s just kill this thing so we can get the fuck outta here.”

“If something happens—”

Taako took Kravitz’s face ever-so-gently in his hands. “Krav, stop being stupid. I’m Taako from _fuckin’_ TV and you’re the world’s nerdiest Reaper. We’re not doing the whole _tearful goodbye _thing. It’s gonna be fine so stop being such a fucking defeatist and go make yourself look pretty for Legion.”

Kravitz made a humming noise of acquiescence, bringing their foreheads together. Taako’s breath caught and he gave himself a single moment to enjoy it—and fuck, it felt so nice, this tiny pocket universe of intimacy—before moving away. “Go. Taako’s good out here.”

Kravitz nodded before inky wings erupted from his back and shot upward.

“You have _wings_?” Taako shouted up, watching Kravitz hover in the air for a second before running for the courtyard gate. He pushed it open before spelling his voice to a booming volume.

“Hey dickhead!” he yelled at the very top of his voice. Legion roared and Taako could feel dozens of malevolent eyes finding him on the ground. “Jesus shit, and I thought you were ugly before. The rainbow detail is tacky as hell, my dude.”

“You,” Legion hissed. “We know you. You would not join us.”

“And give up this handsome mug to look like _that_?” Taako said. “No thanks.”

“Join us now,” Legion wheedled.

“Yeah, yeah, kill Death, escape the Astral Plane, blah blah. Counteroffer: You eat my entire ass.” He raised this umbrastaff, casting a massive Fireball before running like hell. Legion bellowed in pain and fury as the fire struck its side and it surged forward, rolling into the garden like an awful, fleshy tidal wave. All of Taako’s bravado vanished in an instant and the side of his face throbbed, a reminder of their last bloody encounter.

Legion was too fast, shockingly fast for its size, and Taako’s heart leaped into his throat. Without really thinking, he cast the first spell he could think of. A shape erupted from the tip of the umbrastaff, glowing and amorphous before settling into the shape of an ethereal horse. With two horns protruding from its forehead. And sunglasses?

Taako should have guessed that his phantom steed would look something like this. That was on him.

“You just gonna stand there?” the horse—unicorn—bicorn?—drawled in a voice with some intense-ass vocal fry. “Let’s get a move on.”

Taako didn’t need to be told twice, leaping into the bicorn’s back as Legion barreled towards the castle.

“You wanted Death?” Kravitz shouted, still cutting an imposing figure in the sky with his broad black wings. His scythe twirled in a deadly arc. “Let me introduce you.”

Arcane energy crackled through the air like lightning as the concussive boom nearly knocked Taako off of his steed’s back as Kravitz dive-bombed Legion and they collided.

Then everything went a little sideways. Legion was everywhere, massive and undulating and honestly so, so drippy. Why was it _drippy_?

Taako shot off spell after spell, trying to find something that made a dent, all the while his steed—who introduced himself as Garyl, because of course—ducked and wove around the tendrils of Legion that tried to grab him. Taako took his eyes off of Legion for a split-second as he tried to generate the power for another spell, which was enough time for one of the tendrils to catch him in the stomach and he flew through the air.

The air exploded out of his lungs as he landed and the tendril reared, solidifying into a deadly spear that plunged towards Taako’s chest. He didn’t have time to cast or even move, only to brace for impact. The ground rumbled and before the spear could stab him, an enormous wall of thorns burst out of the ground, blocking the blow.

From behind the wall, Taako blasted at the tendril until it retreated, mouths screaming. The barrier slid back into the ground, revealing Merle alight with a divine glow and brandishing his _X-Treme Teen Bible_.

“Feel the power of Pan, you gloopy asshole!” Merle shouted, pumping his soulwood fist.

“Thanks for the save,” Taako said, jumping back on Garyl as his attention was drawn to a scream from above him. Barry was falling, struck from the sky and falling like a fucking stone. Lup shot towards him, but she was too far away to catch him before he hit the ground. “Can you fly?” he asked Garyl.

Garyl made a derisive noise, galloping into the air like it was nothing as Taako urged him towards Barry’s red-robed form. Taako snatched Barry out of the air only seconds before he would’ve crashed. Lich form or not, a fall from that height would _not _feel good.

“Thanks,” Barry groaned, his glowing eyes blinking blearily under his red hood.

“Aw, fuck, I thought you were Lup,” Taako said, acting on an old instinct. “Wouldn’t’ve bothered otherwise.”

“Gods, you are so alike,” Barry said, almost laughing despite their precarious situation. Taako arched an eyebrow, wheeling Garyl around to avoid a drippy fist that crashed into the side of the castle.

“How so, Barold?”

“You’re both full of shit,” Barry replied without a moment of hesitation.

Taako bit his lip to keep from snickering out loud. “Get the fuck off my horse.”

“M’not a horse, hombre,” Garyl drawled.

“Yeah, yeah, bicorn, I know,” Taako replied. “Point stands. Buzz off.”

Barry flipped him off and jumped into the air again. Taako’s amusement was short-lived as Legion just—kept—coming. They were slowing it down, but all their efforts just seemed to be pissing it off more than anything else.

“Hey, Garyl, how do you feel about being a distraction?” Taako asked as they approached the ground.

“Dubious.”

“Just do it.”

Then Taako did what he should have been doing this whole time: he hid. He had no idea if what he was trying to do would work, but he needed time to generate the kind of power for a spell this size.

“Taako!” Magnus hissed, seeing him as the human fended off three tendrils on his own, hacking at them with a massive double-bladed ax that probably weighed more than Taako. “What are you doing?”

“Just wait,” Taako growled back, magic crackling under his palms as the umbrastaff powered up like a generator. “I just need a little time. Keep them off me.”

“Got you,” Magnus agreed and Taako thought that it might be the first time that someone trusted him to be brave. It wasn’t a smart bet—not even Lup would take those odds—but in that moment, Taako really fucking appreciated it. He needed someone to think he was brave. It someone believed it, maybe he could pretend long enough to actually pull this off.

“Hey Krav!” Taako said after several painfully long minutes. “You think those wings are impressive. Get a load of this!”

Then he roared—a true monster roar as he cast Shapechange and transformed into a fucking T-Rex.

“Holy fuck!” Lup shouted, suddenly at eye-level with Taako’s new gigantic size. “When the shit did you learn how to do that?”

_Transmutation for the win_, Taako thought, charging Legion head-on.

Legion bellowed as Taako’s dinosaur forehead crashed into its side and some of the tendrils disappeared, joining the original mass as Legion absorbed the force of the blow.

Okay, so blunt force didn’t do dick. Good thing he had a mouthful of fuckin’ dino teeth.

Legion tasted bad. Just wet and gloopy and even with his reduced senses, Taako gagged as his jaws closed around Legion’s flank. Legion screamed, and Taako shook his massive head, tearing and rending as much as he could, trying to do something—anything—to make the stupid, interdimensional monster smaller and easier to kill.

“Woohoo!” Magnus cheered from the ground. “Fuck him up, Taako!”

No sooner were the words spoken than an amorphous, ridiculously-dense limb caught Taako in the dino mouth and he lost his balance. Lost his balance and lost hold of the spell. He hit the ground as an elf again, rolling several feet before coming to a very bruised halt.

“Taako!” Lup touched down beside him, still mostly on fire. “Taako, are you okay?”

“Ow,” Taako complained. “Dupree didn’t work as well as I wanted him too.”

“You named the T-Rex, _Dupree_?”

“Natch.” Breathing hurt. Fuck, he probably broke a rib. Not good.

“This isn’t working,” Lup said. No shit. Taako had turned into a fucking dinosaur and it had barely made a difference. Dupree had taken a chunk out of Legion, but it was still too fucking big. Big and stupid and made of dead—

Oh shit, he was an idiot.

“How much necromancy have you learned from Barold?” Taako asked urgently.

“Um, some, I guess. It’s not that different from evocation, when you really think about it—”

“Can you Banish it?” Taako asked desperately. He didn’t know the spell and sure as shit didn’t have the time to learn this very moment, but evocation was closer than transmutation.

“Banish is _where_?”

“I don’t know. A fuckin’ nether dimension. Who cares? As long as it’s not here or home, I don’t give a shit.”

Lup took a split-second to consider. “I’d need help. A lot of it. And time.”

“Merle can help,” Taako said. He wasn’t an expert in cleric magic by any stretch of the imagination, but dealing with undead bullshit was part of their whole schtick. “Krav too.”

“Barry can do it.” Lup looked at him searchingly. “Four? Is that enough? For something this size?”

“It has to be,” Taako said. It had to be. They couldn’t keep this up forever and Taako was already damn near out of magic. “Get the others together and power up that spell. I’ll give you as much time as I can.”

Taako turned on his spectacular heel, holding his hat tight to his head as he ran to where Magnus was backed into a corner.

“What’s the play?” Magnus asked, hacking away at Legion. He had stamina for days, but Taako knew that he couldn’t do this for much longer. Cuts and bruises already covered his arms and face, purpling against his tan skin.

“They’re gonna try something,” Taako said, panting as he blasted the tendrils. “We need to give them time.”

“Will it work?” 

Taako was a liar, but Magnus was family and their odds of surviving this were dwindling. Fuck Taako didn’t want to die here. At least Angus was okay, safe in the Celestial Plane. “I don’t know. Wanna know the odds?” He was mostly joking.

“I know better than to bet against you,” Magnus said with a wide, exhausted grin. A black tendril slammed down between them and Taako shouted as he dove out of the way to avoid being crushed.

_Fucking hurry, Lup_, Taako thought desperately, throwing a barrage of Fireballs, which didn’t do much more than piss Legion off. Out of the corner of his eye, Taako could see Magnus throw something at the monster and the lance struck hard, only to return to his hand only a moment later.

Legion screamed, all of its attention on Magnus now and it surged towards him faster than Magnus could dodge. Magnus cried out as a tendril caught him around the waist and _squeezed_. It was crushing him.

Taako didn’t think.

“Hey! Hey Legion!” he shouted, waving frantically. The monster stilled somewhat and Taako heard Magnus suck in a frantic breath as he tried to wiggle free. “How’s that offer to join? Still on the table?”

“Taako, _no_!” Magnus shouted. Taako waved an airy hand at him.

“It’s a trick,” Legion hissed.

“It’s not,” Taako objected. “You don’t know me, homie, but I don’t pick the losing side and I know when to just my losses.”

Legion paused, as if considering, and Taako pressed on. “I want to go home. And if it’s with you, so be it.”

“Your strength will be ours, wizard. Your magic, too.”

“Like I said, I want to go home. One last thing, big guy.” Taako swallowed hard, darting as close to Legion as he dared. “Abra-ca-_fuck-you_.” He cast Magic Missle.

Taako was _way _too close. The explosion singed his skin and knocked him backward as Legion bellowed, thrashing. A limb collided with Taako’s side and he sailed through the air until he hid the castle wall with bone-crushing force.

Ow.

“What the fuck were you thinking?”

Taako could barely hear Magnus over the ringing in his ears, but the fact that he _could _hear him meant that Taako’s little gambit had worked. That was fucking something.

“You’re welcome,” Taako grumped, slurring a little. “How about we press pause on the scolding until I don’t see three of you, mmkay?” Blood dribbled down his chin. Awesome.

“You need a healer,” Magnus insisted.

“You first.”

Magnus growled, scooping Taako into his broad arms despite Taako’s cry of surprise and protestation.

“They’re out of time. We can’t keep this up.”

No fuckin’ complaints from him. Taako had barely one spell left in him and he was hurting, despite his claims to the contrary. He definitely had a concussion and he didn’t want to brother counting the broken bones.

“What the fuck happened?” Lup demanded when Magnus got them up to the West Wing. He wasn’t holding Taako anymore because he was beat to shit, but like hell was he letting Magnus carry him into the room like he was on death’s door. He was fine. He was hurt and he was fine.

“I blew Legion up. Also blew myself up. A little.”

“_Taako_—”

“Is the spell ready?” Taako cut her off, still leaning heavily on Magnus, which he would deny forever if they actually made it out of here.

“We don’t have enough magic,” Kravitz said, his eyes never straying from Taako. He kept his distance and Taako so wished he wouldn’t. “Even with my power, it won’t be enough to Banish something that size. You all need to go,” he said. “You tried—we tried—but Legion will kill you. Please. Please go.”

“Lulu,” Taako said, extending a hand. He held the other out to Kravitz and before either of them could protest, he burned his very last spell slot. Didn’t just burn it, drained it altogether and then some. The buzz of magic in his veins stilled as he just…gave it all away.

“What are you—?” Kravitz started but Taako just increased his grip, digging for ever last drop of magic he could give them. He could feel the moment the glamour fell away from his skin, revealing the puckered scar that ripped down the side of his face and made him look like Lup’s reflection in a particularly mean-spirited funhouse mirror.

Taako very deliberately didn’t look at Lup but he couldn’t help feeling her eyes on him. The others had already seen the scar, but he knew that they were staring too. He’d done his best to maintain the spell but in apparently escaping certain doom was the one thing that outweighed his vanity and the Alter Self faded away with the rest of the magic in his body.

“Shut up and cast the fuckin’ spell,” Taako said through clenched teeth, surveying this collection of people he loved. And also Barry, but he was with Lup, so he was grandfathered in. They were all in bad shape and if things kept going like this, none of them were going to make it. Taako wasn’t feeling too hot either. Between giving all his magic away—which was so much more uncomfortable than he thought it would be and he already regretted it—and the various levels of brokenness, he felt gray. Brittle, wrung-out, and seconds from shattering. “And if it doesn’t work, then we go.”

Everyone’s heads snapped to him, but he stood firm. None of them asked to die here and if this didn’t work, Taako would push their asses through the portal himself.

He still wasn’t sure if he would join them. Fuck, he didn’t want to die, and the thought of leaving Lup on her own hurt more than anything Legion had done to him. But Kravitz—

“One shot,” Taako said firmly. “Make it count, okay?”

They all moved into position, everyone clasping hands as Legion rolled towards them, smelling weakness. Smelling defeat. Lup and Kravitz held Taako’s hands tight, half holding him up as they began to cast.

And it didn’t work. For almost a minute—the longest minute of Taako’s life, nothing happened. Then the air around Legion shimmered like the air over an open flame and it _screamed_, a gut-wrenching sound of rage and terror.

Misshapen, writhing tentacles thrashed in the air as Legion was slowly, agonizingly, pulled apart. Taako had no fucking idea where they were Banishing it to, but wherever it was, he hoped it had a door that locked. The tendrils slammed against the wall of the castle, the ground, leveling shrubbery and yanking black trees out of the grounds, roots and all.

Legion just kept screaming, so loud that Taako thought that his eardrums were going to burst. They lay perfectly flat against his head as he gritted his teeth and fought the urge to pull away and do _something _to block out the ungodly noise.

_Come on, please_, Taako thought as Legions struggles grew more and more frenzied. It was desperate, dying, and even more dangerous with every second that passed. They had it backed into a corner. They were _winning_.

And then it saw them. Somehow, Taako knew the instant Legion sighted them. He could feel its many-eyed gaze, and he knew what it was going to do a split-second before it struck.

“_Move_,” Taako shouted, tightening his grip on Kravitz and Lup and yanking them as hard as he could as one of the tendrils, sharpened into a needle of obsidian, crashed through the window. Taako could see it coming as if in slow motion, searching out whoever was closest. Everyone was a target, everyone was vulnerable and exposed, so consumed with their casting or so battered that they wouldn’t be able to move out of the way in time, no matter how hard he pushed.

_Well this is one way to force character development_, Taako thought.

“Keep. Fucking. Casting,” he ordered before taking a single, deliberate step forward.

Somewhere between his tiny gasp of surprise and his family’s screams, somewhere between the bone-shattering impact and finding himself staring up at the stone ceiling of the West Wing, Taako knew that he was dying. Dying with a gloopy Legion tentacle shoved through his stomach, to add insult to severe, life-ending injury.

He was sticky and wet and there was _pressure _on his middle, but no pain. That was what scared him. There should have been pain. After everything he’d put his body through today, after giving up his magic, he shouldn’t be conscious with agony. And yet here he was, floating in this strange, conscious-adjacent state, just barely aware of the chaos that had erupted all around him.

Then tentacle was gone and Taako had some sense of Kravitz and Lup’s combined screams and a concussive boom of magic that made his ears pop. Heat and darkness became alive around him, like the arcane energy that made up the Astral Plane was responding to their fear and rage and beginning to _burn _Legion out like the infection it was. It was chaos and madness, a cacophony of screams and spells that he could barely hear and then—

Then it was gone. Then it was quiet. Then his blurring vision could make out the tearful faces of Magnus, Merle, Kravitz, and Lup hovering above him.

“Huh,” Taako said. His voice was thick, muffled a little by the blood in his mouth, but he was still lucid enough to go for a joke. “Never saw _that_ coming, did you?”

“What were you thinking?” Kravitz demanded, falling to skeletal knees by Taako’s side. Lup did the same, her hand already gripping his.

“Merle, _do _something,” Magnus insisted in a hissed whisper.

“I…” Merle said, flapping his hands around what Taako assumed was his ruined torso. “I…don’t think I can. I can’t heal this kind of damage.”

“_Fucking try_,” Lup snarled, turning to him with her hair ablaze. Taako appreciated that Merle didn’t flinch away from her, only held out his _X-Treme Teen Bible _and began to cast.

“That’s it?” she demanded when the light of the spell faded. Taako didn’t feel any better but he didn’t really expect to. Merle was right; this wasn’t something he could heal, cleric or no.

“Lulu,” Taako said, suddenly urgent. “Lulu, don’t be mad, okay?” It was silly and childish, but he couldn’t stand the thought that she was angry with him. “You can just have Barold bring me back, right?”

Lup flinched. Taako knew that wasn’t how necromancy worked and he knew that even if Barry _did _find a way to bring him back, he wouldn’t be the same as before. Necromancy only did so much and Taako was one of a fuckin’ kind, baby. The Astral Plane would keep part of him, no matter how much he wished it wouldn’t.

“Guess you _can_ die in the Astral Plane,” Taako mused to himself. Everything was fuzzy and fading and he absently wondered where he would go. “Hey, RQ?” Taako called, trying to keep himself from floating up and away from his body. He was so tired. It would be easy, the easiest thing in the world, but he didn’t want it. Not yet. “I think we need that ride now.”

Taako sensed more than saw the black portal open up beside them.

“You’re coming with us,” Lup said fiercely. “I’m not leaving you here.”

“I’m just gonna end up back here anyway,” Taako said, trying for reason. Streaks of fire burned down the shadowy approximation of Lup’s face, the lich equivalent of tears, he supposed. “You wanna hear something cheesy? I love you. I don’t say it enough but if this is a whole…last words kind of deal, I want to do this properly.”

Taako arched his neck a little—and damn, if his head didn’t feel like it weighed a million pounds—looking at each of them. “I love you guys. Treasure—” His breath caught in his lungs and he retched, coughing so hard that blood spattered the stones— “Ew. Treasure this…this moment, because I ain’t saying it again.”

“We love you too,” Magnus said, tears streaking down his face. 

“Love you, buddy,” Merle said solemnly.

“Tell Ango I love him too,” Taako said, feeling the finality of it. He shouldn’t be scared of the Astral Plane, not after how much time he’d spent here, but he didn’t want to go. He didn’t want to be alone in the dark. “And tell him to keep up the lessons because he’s—he’s gonna be one hell of a wizard someday.” Taako’s eyes found Kravitz. “Want to know something funny? I fell in love with the Grim Reaper.”

Kravitz made a hurt sound low in his throat, his head bending to rest on Taako’s ruined chest. “I love you too, Taako. Fuck, I love you so much.”

Something in the room exploded, only there was no blast, only a burst of light that sent prisms of bright blue spiraling through the air like the Fantasy Aurora Borealis. No one else seemed to notice and Taako was pretty sure he was seeing things. He wondered if this was part of the whole…_dying _thing and immediately made himself sad. Fuck, he had so much more to say—so much more to _do_. He didn’t want to go.

“Taako,” Lup said, still crying fire but her voice was steady. Lup always was the brave one. He blinked to look at her and then she was all he could see, his twin, his other half, his heart. “Taako, please.”

“Love you, goofus,” Taako whispered. It was all going away…the room, his family, Kravitz and Lup, and he was going with it. “Congrats on being the pretty twin by proxy.”

The blue light grew so bright that Taako had to shut his eyes. They didn’t open again.


	13. Reunion Pt. 2

Lup could barely hear anything other than the sound of her own scream echoing in her ears. Taako wasn’t movie—he wasn’t moving and she couldn’t make—him—wake—up!

“Lup,” someone said to her, and Lup ignored them, her focus wholly on her brother’s body in her arms. He didn’t look peaceful. Wasn’t that the bullshit about death? People said that the dead looked like they were sleeping. Taako didn’t look like he was sleeping. He looked like an unfinished sentence, like someone had pressed pause on him and forgotten to hit play again. His stomach was still weeping blood that sizzled when it hit her superheated spectral form, and his eyes were closed, the scar pulling at his eyelid taut and awful. When had that happened?

When had any of this happened? She’d just gotten him back and he’d gotten some kind of awful scar and—_fuck_. Lup didn’t have to breathe when she was like this, but it felt like she wouldn’t be able to anyway. Half of her was just…gone.

No, not gone. Taken. Ripped away because Taako had decided to be brave. Why in the world would he choose to be brave now, of all times? Lup didn’t give a shit about Legion or her new companions or hell, even about Barry. She would trade them all in a heartbeat for Taako to just open his fucking eyes, stick out his tongue like this was all just a joke, and say, “sike.”

She would trade all of Neverwinter, all of Faerun. She would burn this whole world down and make a new one out of the ashes if it meant she had her brother back.

“Lup.” This time the voice was accompanied by a hand on her shoulder and part of her—the part that wasn’t screaming with grief—knew that it was Barry. He was the only one who could touch her like this. Even Taako’s body was little more than ghostly pressure against her.

“No!” Lup shrieked, blasting him away with enough force that Barry went flying before catching himself in midair.

Barry didn’t have a time to make his case before a beam of blue light burst from a corner of the room. Lup snarled her rage and tried to clutch Taako close to her, tried to shield him, but the light simply spread, and spread, and spread, until it took everything with it.

Taako was gone when Lup’s vision cleared. She scrambled up, twisting in a frantic circle to look for him but he was just…gone.

Taako was gone and they were home. Well, the Prime Material Plane, in any case. Lup had no fucking idea where they were, actually. It looked like they were back in the IPRE, but Lup could care less. Barry shook his head, acclimating quickly, but Merle and Magnus took longer to recover from the abrupt interdimensional puddle hop. The Grim Reaper was nowhere to be seen, which was probably for the best because Lup was looking for something to fight and right now he was the best candidate. She didn’t care if Taako loved him; none of this would’ve happened if Death hadn’t kidnapped her.

_None of this would’ve happened if you hadn’t busted into the Astral Plane in the first place, _hissed a horrible little voice in the back of her mind. Lup pushed it down and went back to blaming the Reaper.

“Hello sirs!” a little boy’s voice said cheerfully and Lup watched as a tiny, extremely fancy boy rounded the corner to greet them. He was grinning, the smile dissolving by slow degrees when he saw who was among their number—and who wasn’t. “Hi, um, you must be Lup and Barry! I’m Angus McDonald, the world’s greatest detective. Where’s…where’s Taako?”

Fiery tears streaked down Lup’s phantasmal face and she turned away from the little boy and left. Phased through the wall and disappeared. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t exist without Taako. Everything she’d done—joining the IPRE, building the ship with Barry, soldering her magic to her soul like the world’s most dangerous arcane craft project, going to the Astral Plane—all of it had been to bring him home. And she’d been so close.

Lup should’ve known what Taako was going to do before he did it. They were twins, they were connected. He didn’t have to take that shot for them. Lup was a fucking lich! Legion wouldn’t have been able to hurt her like it hurt him. She closed her eyes, unable to stop picturing how the tentacle ripped through his middle like it was made out of tissue paper, leaving a pulpy mess of blood and guts behind. And he’d been so brave for so long, he’d said he loved her.

_Congrats on being the pretty twin by proxy_. Lup made a choked sound halfway between a laugh and a sob. Those _would_ be his last words.

Lup wandered for a long, long time, mostly hidden from mortal sight but she couldn’t have given a single crystal shit either way. Let them see her. Let her be the ghost that haunted Neverwinter, crying tears of fire and screaming with loss so great she didn’t think she could contain it all.

Barry found her eventually, because of course he did. He was back in the body she’d come to love, soft and sleepy, bespectacled and forever denim-clad.

“You don’t have to come back,” Barry said gently. “But you can if you want to. Um, we got everything sorted back at the Institute. We got pardoned for, you know. Killing John.”

“He deserved it,” Lup snarled. She wasn’t as angry anymore, more numb than anything, but the thought of John sent a stab of rage through her chest. She’d kill John a thousand times over and fuck the consequences. What were they going to do to her like this? What could they do that wouldn’t hurt more than the constant, searing agony that she held close to her heart because fuck, it hurt, but at least it was something. Something other than being empty, alone and unfinished.

“No arguments here,” Barry said, colder and harder than Lup was used to. “We’re all set up. Taako’s, er, his friends stuck around and turns out one of them is a bit of a folk hero. Lots of connections and a real good woodworker. He set us up real nice with a place outside the city. We’ve all been staying there for now. Me, Merle, Magnus, and um, and Angus.” Barry sighed, rubbing the back of his head. “The kid hasn’t stopped crying. Apparently Taako promised that you three would live together when they got out of the Astral Plane. Taako…Taako taught him magic and he—he really wants to meet you.”

_Not like this, he doesn’t_, Lup thought immediately, as something complicated happened in her stomach at the thought of Taako promising to be a family with someone other than Lup. Part of her was inexplicably jealous at having to share his love, even now, but stronger than that was the part of her that was just so fucking proud of him.

“Take me home, Barold,” Lup said softly, slowly moving from one stage of grief to the next. “Let’s go meet my adopted nephew, or whatever.”

Barry’s look of relief and joy wasn’t enough to fill the hole in her heart but it made her feel something, which was a start.

Transitioning back to her body was hard. Lup had gotten used to her spectral form and it took a couple of days to remember that most things were, in fact, solid. No one dared laugh at her, though, because solid or no, she was still a lich and could roast them alive if they so much as chuckled.

Which she wouldn’t, obviously, but Lup wasn’t above giving that impression.

Living in a big house with people that weren’t her brother was weird too. It felt crowded and noisy at first, oppressive in a way that the tiny shared rooms with Taako never had. But her new roommates were strange and kind and Taako loved them, so they were alright by her.

Lup had no idea what kind of folk hero connections allowed Magnus to get them a sprawling house on the outskirts of Neverwinter, but he was gentle despite his massive, scarred form, and seemed to much prefer his woodcarving tools than the enormous double-bladed ax he’d used in the battle with Legion. They didn’t spend much time together, but sometimes she helped him as he started project after project on the house. It was more scaffolding than house at his point, and it would look mismatched and odd by the time he was done with it, but that was just as well considering the collection of weirdos who lived inside. Magnus always tried to insist that he didn’t need magical assistance, but he never turned her away when she showed up. Lup had caught him crying in private more times than either of them would admit. They both needed the distraction.

Merle was a bit of a mystery, a so-called beach dwarf who had commandeered the entire backyard to transform into a garden so diverse and varied than Lup couldn’t name half off the plants that he was growing. In the center of the garden was a tree unlike anything that grew on this plane: a massive oak with unnaturally black bark and leaves that grew in shades of gray. Merle never mentioned it specifically, but it had been the first thing to grow and Lup knew that he’d helped it along with magic to make it bigger and taller than anything else sprouting. Sometimes she heard him talking to himself.

“Kid’s being a pain in my beard, today, I gotta tell you, man.”

“Magnus and his damn ducks! They’re everywhere. I’m going to trip on one and break my neck, just you wait.”

“Mavis and Mookie are gonna visit soon. M’nervous, but I think they’re gonna like it here. I’ve got guest rooms all set up and Mookie and Magnus will get on like a house on fire. I just hope they don’t _actually_ light the house on fire.”

Lup thought he was talking to his god until she overheard him one morning in the garden.

“Miss you, buddy,” Merle said is a wobbly voice Lup had never heard before. Merle was a little more stiff upper lip than the rest of them. Well, more than Magnus, at the very least. “Pan won’t tell me shit, but I hope you’re okay out there. Fuck, Taako. Thing’s ain’t the same without you.”

Lup had to leave before she set something on fire.

Angus was the biggest surprise of them all and it was no wonder at all that Taako loved him. For all of his declarations of being the world’s greatest detective, was a little shit through and through. Smart-aleck to the core and magic fucking loved him. Lup didn’t want to like him; it hurt too much, but it quickly proved impossible.

“Miss Lup?” Angus said one day, his head popping out of the kitchen as Lup passed. Lup didn’t do much cooking anymore. It felt like she was trying to prepare meals with one hand behind her back without Taako to fill the space beside her. It was too soon, too raw. 

“Ango-bango, how many times do I have to tell you just to call me Lup?” Lup asked indulgently.

“But it’s not polite!” Angus protested, sounding far too aggrieved for someone who had enchanted one of Magnus’s wooden ducks—what was up with the ducks?—to quack and flap it’s wings and nearly scared the shit out of him. Lup had laughed herself stupid before feeling profoundly guilty for finding anything funny without Taako in the world. “Anyway, will you please come here? I made something I’d like you to try.”

Lup smelled it the second she walked into the kitchen and wondered how the smell hadn’t wafted into the hall.

“Elderflower macrons!” Angus said excitedly before she could tell him otherwise, grabbing the tray off of the counter and presenting it to her. Lup moved without meaning to, raising a hand and blasting the tray out of his hands with enough force to evaporate the macrons on contact. The smell lingered, catching in her nose and making her heart squeeze in her chest.

“Ah!” Angus cried out, skittering away, his over-mitted hands thrown over his head.

“Shit, sorry,” Lup said, making it the two steps him before her knees gave out. She sank to the linoleum ground, holding Angus’s wrists in apology. Tears sprang to her eyes and it was still weird that they were wet instead of burning, though Lup wasn’t surprised that she was so much more comfortable in lich form. Strutting around in this smokin’ bod was great, but there was something incandescent about being magic personified. “Ango, I’m sorry. I overreacted. Taako…fuck—” She swiped at the tears collecting under her eyes— “Taako used to make those for Candlenights and I, um. I forgot what they smelled like.”

“I’m sorry,” Angus said, sounding aghast. He started sniffling as well, sliding down to meet Lup on the floor. He was still wearing the oven mitts. “I didn’t know. I—um. I miss him. So much, Miss—um. Lup.”

Lup let out a little sob, wishing she could make herself stop, but now they were both crying and fuck it. The kid was a detective, right? Why bother hiding the fact that she was living without her heart. They were doing okay here, together in this house, but no matter how they adjusted, no one could deny that there was a giant piece missing. Lup pressed her thumb under Angus’s eyes, wiping away the tears that gathered and he started sobbing in earnest now, pressing his little face against her shoulder as his body began to shake. Lup held him tight and they both cried their eyes out, until eventually the tears ran dry.

“I keep thinking that this is just a goof,” Angus whispered eventually. “I keep thinking that he and Kravitz are just going to show up one day and it’s all going to be okay.”

“Me too, bud,” Lup admitted. She shook her head, looking him in the red, tear-stained face. “He would say that we’re too pretty to cry like this,” she declared, helping Angus to his feet. Her shirt was damp with tears and snot and she magicked it away.

“Yeah, he would,” Angus said, inspecting his clothes as she returned him to fancy boy factory settings. Lup had been practicing transmutation magic recently.

“How about this?” Lup asked, gesturing to the kitchen. “How about you and me take another crack at those macrons and make them for the rest of the gang?”

Angus nodded eagerly and that was how they spent the rest of the afternoon. It was nice to be in the kitchen again, nice to have someone working at her elbow, moving in tandem. Not the same, not even close, but nice.

It was all she had now.

* * *

He was floating. Not in a bad, “oh fuck, I’m drowning,” kind of way, but in a nice, effortless, close your eyes and just relax kind of way. He didn’t know where he was, but he didn’t really care to find out. The light on the outside of his eyelids was soft and he didn’t really see the point of opening them to see what was going on. He was tired and it was nice to just float here for a change.

It was a change, this bone-deep sense of peace that flowed through him, that he knew for certain. He didn’t know how, but he knew that whatever had come before this place, it had been hard and cold and dark. Unyielding and difficult. He’d run. There had been a lot of running, and a lot of fighting and he was tired. He was tired and his body was warm and it didn’t hurt. Not hurting was good. Some tickling feeling in the back of his head said that existing without some kind of ache or pang in his body was a novel experience.

He wasn’t even sure if he had a body anymore. That was a shame. He was pretty.

_Congrats on being the pretty twin_. His voice, his words, floated through the peaceful nothingness of this place, and something sharp twisted in his stomach. A face he only half-recognized floated behind his eyelids, imprinting on his lazy, drifting mind. She was beautiful—_not as beautiful as me_. The thought came unbidden, bringing more squirming emotions where he’d only experienced placid numbness before. The elf girl was beautiful and she was crying. She was also on fire, which was strange enough to nearly shake him out of his sleepy daze.

Nearly. He didn’t want to leave. He didn’t want to wake up. It was nice here. Peaceful. Why should he bother going back to…wherever he’d been before?

_Because she’s there_, whispered a voice in the back of his mind that was far too solid and much too loud for his liking. _She’s alone_.

She? The crying elf girl, the one on fire—

Lup.

“Fuck!”

“Language, language.”

Taako—and he was Taako, he was fucking Taako from TV, how could he have forgotten that?—had a single glimpse of an endless white expanse before a dark-skinned woman in a crow mask appeared in front of him, so close that the beak damn near took his eye out. Taako didn’t have a ton of experience with goddesses, but this one clearly had personal space issues.

Taako took a deep breath of air that seemed thicker than it should be, slow-moving like toffee. “‘Sup, RQ?”

Black lips curved into a smile beneath the mask. “Oh, you’re back alright.”

“Where…where am I? Where is this?” All at once, Taako remembered the battle, remembered Legion, remembered the bloody mess of his stomach because he’d pulled a Magnus and let himself get stabbed through the gut. His hands pressed against unblemished skin, searching for the injury that should’ve put him in the ground. But his skin was whole. Bruised and hurting, but whole. And the Raven Queen was here.

Shit. 

“Am I dead?”

“Good question,” RQ replied enigmatically. “I think that’s up to you.”

Why anyone bothered with deities was beyond him. How the hell did clerics cope with this enigmatic bullshit?

“No offense, but I’ve had a long few months and just let a gooey vore monster stab me in the stomach, so I think I’m entitled to a straight fucking answer, don’t you?”

The soft light of wherever the fuck they were began to dim and Taako’s heart skipped two fairly crucial beats. Oh, Fantasy Jesus, he’d done it now. Way to go, Taako, you pissed off the literal goddess of death. Well done.

“Ray.” A flash of light so blinding Taako had to put a hand over his eyes and then Istus was there too. “Would you cut it out?”

“Buzzkill,” RQ complained and the darkness receded. Taako bit his lip to keep from saying all the acidic comments that stacked behind his teeth.

Istus smiled gently at him, probably sensing the direction his thoughts had gone. Or reading his mind outright, he really didn’t know the extent of her powers. “We’ve been waiting for you to come back,” she explained. “Or not.”

“Where am I?” Taako asked again, addressing his question to Istus before remembering something crucial. “Wait, where’s Angus? Is he okay? Where’s—” Lup, Kravitz, Merle, Magnus, where was his family? Had his little gambit worked? Were they home? Were they safe?

And what the hell had happened to him that he cared? Caring was so weird.

“They’re home,” Istus replied. “You gave them the time to Banish Legion.”

Taako exhaled a rough breath of relief. Well that was something. “And Kravitz?”

This time RQ answered, grinning brightly with too-white, too-sharp teeth. “My Kravitz has been restored. He’s free.” The predatory edge left her smile and for the first time Taako didn’t want to run away from her. “You freed him.”

“How’d I manage that?” Taako asked. He didn’t recall doing anything all that special—besides the whole, heroic sacrifice thing, though he didn’t know what about that was Kravitz-specific.

“Do you want to go home?” RQ asked, changing tack so quickly that Taako just blinked at her for a minute. What the hell kind of question was that?

“Uh, duh,” Taako said. He gestured to the whitish nothingness swirling around him. “Gotta tell you, this place isn’t exactly my vibe.”

Istus squeezed the Raven Queen’s arm, looking so happy that it made Taako want to look away from her. “I knew it.”

“Knew what?”

“I knew you would remember them,” Istus explained. “You could’ve stayed here forever, Taako, in this little…in-between space. We wanted you to have somewhere to heal, somewhere safe and warm and peaceful. But you chose to remember them. You chose life.”

“Yeah…” Taako said, rubbing the back of his neck. He wasn’t one to shy away from praise, but this was just weird. It didn’t feel like he’d chosen anything—he’d just woken up.

He’d remembered Lup and woken up, and that… Well that felt significant.

RQ and Istus joined hands, both still beaming at him, and the white space began to fade away, taking him with it. “We’re so proud of you.”

* * *

Taako wasn’t aware of moving, or being transported, or whatever. One moment he was in RQ and Istus’s incubator, and then next he was in a kitchen. His kitchen. Or, their kitchen. He didn’t know why he knew where he was, but he did. Another gift from the goddesses who seemed very, very invested in his life.

Lup and Angus were working in tandem at the counter and Taako would’ve known elderflower macarons with his eyes closed.

“Almond extract,” he said, arranging himself against the granite island and inspecting his nails like he’d been there the whole time. “Not vanilla, you dummies. Too sweet otherwise.”

They both spun like tops, gawking at him. Taako grinned. “Miss me?”

Lup punched him. She’d screamed too, and hugged him so tight that he thought one of his newly-healed boned would pop, and then she punched him. Really, really hard, which Taako didn’t think was fair.

“What—

“Ow.”

”—the—”

“Ow.”

“—fuck!”

“_Ow_!” Taako complained, dancing out of the way to avoid Lup’s sharp knuckles. “Lulu, quit it!”

“You died!” Lup cried. Angus held her hand, looking at Taako like he couldn’t quite believe he was there.

_Welcome to the party, kid_.

“I know.”

“You fucking…you sacrificed yourself! What sort of bullshit—”

“I know!” Taako said again, pulling Lup and Angus into his arms and holding them both tight. “I know. And I’m not sorry. It’s really important that I say how not sorry I am because I saved all of your asses and it was badass as hell and no one can tell me different. But—” He paused, swallowing the wobble in his voice. “I am really fucking glad to be back.”

Lup pressed her face against his shoulder, her fingers curled so tight around the fabric of his spangly gold tunic that he was half-sure she was going to rip it, but he didn’t pull away. Not even when Angus started crying, little hiccupping sobs that made Taako’s stomach hurt to hear them.

He didn’t think…he hadn’t thought they would _miss _him like this. Lup was different because for the two of them being apart was like being split in half and sent out into the world without the part of them that made them whole, but the others? Angus and Merle and Magnus? He hadn’t really expected them to stick around. His plans with Angus were wispy and fragile and he sort of thought that they would just—move on without him. But they hadn’t. They were all in this big house together, all of them—even Barry and Lup, who didn’t know the others, didn’t owe them anything. They were a little family.

His family. His family he’d _chosen _to remember. He’d given up the peace and solitude of that in-between place for them. He’d had the chance to rest and said, _Nah. Taako’s good out there. _

Magnus whipped a duck at his head when Taako made his reappearance in Magnus’s new workshop, with Lup and Angus in tow. They were both still a little weepy, but snickered as Taako had to dive out of the way to avoid getting brained with a half-finished mallard. Then again, Magnus was also holding a whittling knife, so it could’ve been worse.

“_Taako_,” Magnus managed before the big guy broke down as well, throwing his carving tools away and rushing Taako in a hug he probably could’ve avoided but chose not to. “You’re alive. You’re here. You’re alive.”

“Natch, homie,” Taako said with what little breath was left as Magnus proceeded to squeeze the life out of him. “Dunno how long that’s gonna last with you crushing my lungs, but go off, my dude.”

“Jeez, sorry,” Magnus said, releasing Taako immediately and rubbing his neck, instantly abashed. “I’m sorry. I just can’t believe it. I mean—how is this possible?”

“Cha’boy’s got an in with gods, apparently,” Taako said, a slow grin spreading across his face. “Wanna go tell Merle and rub it in?”

“_Absolutely._”

Taako’s botanical knowledge began and ended with plants he could smoke or use for spells (or both) but even he let out a low whistle of appreciation at the sprawling gardens in the back of the massive property. It was impressive, so many species and varieties, all in riots of color like Merle was making up for lost time in the Astral, but in the center of everything was a massive black tree. The same kind they had in the old garden.

What a fuckin’ sap. 

“Does the Raven Queen know you stole a sapling from her domain?” Taako asked coolly as he walked down the path to where Merle was working, pruning some bush or other. Merle turned slowly, his eyes massive, before he stood and pulled a spanner out from his belt. Definitely not your typical gardening equipment.

“Knew you’d show up eventually,” Merle said, using the wrench to scratch at the back of his neck.

Taako raised an eyebrow. “Oh you did, did you?”

“Absolutely. The Raven Queen and Pan are smoking buddies, remember? Plus, you’re too big a pain in the ass for them to keep for long.” Taako grinned and Merle did the same, swiping at his nose. “Now will you get out of here? Ten seconds back on this plane and you’re already destroying all my hard work. Gods, you’re trampling the begonias. I just planted those!”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t get your beard in a knot,” Taako said, giving him a two-finger salute before heading back to the rest of the group. “Dinner’s at seven, by the way! I can’t imagine the kind of tripe you’ve been eating here without me, but that stops now. I expect payment for my services in fresh veggies.”

Merle flipped him off with a soulwood finger. Taako returned the gesture and very kindly didn’t comment on the tears in the old man’s eyes.

“My cooking is excellent, you ass,” Lup said, smaking Taako when he got close enough to make contact. “I’m better than you and you know it.”

“Poor Lulu,” Taako sighed, shaking his head. “Not the pretty twin, not the talented chef. Don’t worry, we’re elves. We’ve got a long ass time to figure out what you’re good at. There must be something.”

Lup smirked, her form flickering for a moment to reveal the skeleton lich form inside, all magic and fire and kickass. “I don’t think we need to worry about that, goofus.”

Taako cackled, throwing his arms around her as they tramped back inside as a unit. Gods, this was all so weird but so good. Better than.

“Okay, where’s Krav?” Taako asked, looking to Lup for direction. He didn’t say it, but besides his sister, that was the reunion he’d been most looking forward to. Instead of smiling, Lup blanched slightly. “What?”

“We don’t know,” she said after a second. “He kind of went AWOL after you…died. Barry and I have been trying to find him, but nothing. He took it—I mean we all did, but he took it really hard, Taako.”

Some of his joy ebbed away at that. He didn’t mean to hurt them. He meant to save them, and he did and he still didn’t feel badly about it. Mostly because he didn’t exactly expect to walk out the other side. How was Taako supposed to know that RQ and Istus were fans?

_Hey RQ?_ Taako thought. It wasn’t quite a prayer and he felt totally ridiculous thinking it before a response comes in a warm glow in his chest. He considered just asking her to send Kravitz a message, to tell Krav that he was alive and back on the Prime Material Plane, but—

Well, that didn’t exactly have the ole Taako flair, now did it?

_Wanna help me mess with Krav?_

A whispery laugh in the back of his mind was his only reply and Taako took that as a yes before winging a mental thank you up towards the heavens or wherever the Raven Queen was chilling at the moment. Gods, man.

"Taako?” Lup said and Taako realized that he’d been silent for too long. “You okay? I know it’s tough to hear, but we’re going to keep looking.”

“Natch,” Taako replied. “I get it. I’m a devastating loss, clearly. He’ll turn up. Now who wants to help with dinner?”

Lup looked at him like he’d gone slightly crazy, which was totally fair, but Taako gotta do Taako and right now that meant being as extra as he could possibly be and also cooking a massive meal for his family.

His family. This cadre of weirdos he chose and who chose him. Even Barold, who was a massive nerd, but anyone who could throw down against Legion and keep up with Lup was cool in Taako’s book.

“Alright,” he said, clapping his hands. “Who’s up for thirty clove chicken?”

Turned out, Magnus was worse than useless in the kitchen and Barold was more likely to light something on fire than sauté it properly, so they were both relegated to sous chef duties. Angus—big surprise—was pretty handy, and didn’t get too much in the way as Lup and Taako fell into step beside each other. It was a new space for Taako, but they still moved like they always had, like they were one person split into two bodies.

Merle hadn’t planted garlic in the garden, but Taako was willing to accept tomatoes and potatoes for some baller sides as payment when the old man finally showed up to the party. Weird but nice. It seemed like that was going to be an ongoing theme in Taako’s new life and honestly, he wasn’t mad about it.

“How we looking?” Magnus asked after a few hours. They were just waiting for the chicken to finish roasting now, all hanging around in the massive kitchen like something out of an after-school special. Lup kept looking at him and smiling like she couldn’t quite believe he was real—and yeah, the repercussions of coming back for the dead were waiting for him. His family had grieved for him, and that was something Taako was going to have to face, but not tonight. Tonight they were going to eat chicken and be cheesy and happy in a way he’d never dreamed he could be.

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer,” Taako said because he still had some reputation to maintain, thank you very much. Lup flicked a carrot at his head.

Everyone helped set the massive teak dining table that Magnus definitely made himself but refused to take any credit for, and Taako held out a hand before they could start eating.

“Wait, homies, I think we’re missing one.”

“Um, who do you mean, sir?” Angus asked. For once he wasn’t wearing his little page boy cap. Not at the dinner table, he explained. Bad manners.

Fuck Taako loved that kid.

_Now, RQ_, Taako thought, tilting his head and looking expectantly at the other end of the table, the place he very deliberately set but left empty. No one called him on it. They probably thought he was being sentimental or whatever.

Not so. Simply very, very dramatic.

“Gods dammit, you two,” said a Black human man, appearing in the middle of the dining room like he stepped out of the clear blue nowhere. There was no scythe in his hand, no bony face or skeleton body, but Taako would recognize that voice anywhere. The man—holy Istus he was hot, why did Taako not think about Kravitz sans the Reaper getup, why did he never consider that Kravitz was smoking hot?—turned towards Lup and Barry, pinching the bridge of his nose without looking at any of them. “I told you not to mess around with necromancy anymore. You’re already on thin ice for being liches, and I don’t know how many strings I can pull.”

It took all of Taako’s willpower not to burst out laughing at the thunderstruck looks on everyone’s faces. He sucked in a breath through his nose, schooling his features into some semblance of solemnity before speaking. “He’s right, you know. Goth bird mom hates necromancy at the dinner table.”

Kravitz turned so fast it was a wonder he managed to stay standing. Taako waved, holding a fork. “Hi babe. It’s been a minute. I’m digging the non-skelly look, I gotta tell you.”

“Taako,” Kravitz breathed.

“You know, if you’d mentioned being so hot, maybe I would’ve thought twice about—” Taako didn’t get to finish teasing before Kravitz was across the room, sweeping Taako into a crushing kiss that he eagerly returned.

“Ah, jeez, not in front of the kid,” Merle groused. Taako flipped him off over Kravitz’s shoulder, kissing him for a few seconds longer before breaking apart. He brushed a dreadlock out of Kravitz's eyes in order to see him better. His eyes were still red, and Taako recognized the structure of the old bones under the skin. It was still him, still the same nerdy bard, but like. So hot now. 

“You’re alive.”

“Hell yeah.”

“You’re alive.”

“I’m alive and you know what’s better?” Taako asked, looking at Kravitz, at this man he’d fallen in love with, the Grim Reaper, the bard, the absolute nerd. “I made dinner.” He pressed a kiss against Kravitz’s forward, beaming like an idiot. “Welcome home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *strides back in seven months late with Starbucks* oh shit waddup. law school and depression will mess up a posting schedule, let me tell yall, but i love this story and i love all of you so i wanted to give you the ending you all deserved. hope you liked this fic as much as i liked writing it.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back on my TAZ bullshit in a big way and a sucker for a good Beauty and the Beast AU. 
> 
> Comments and kudos mean the world, and come hang with me on [tumblr](https://funkyfaerie.tumblr.com) and we can yell about TAZ and the McElboys together


End file.
